Online incidents linked to antisemitism climbed by 600% in Australia over the two days following the Hanukkah massacre at Sydney's Bondi Beach earlier this month. Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said the Australian government was "not doing enough" to stop the problem.
According to data published this week, expressions of hatred against Jews climbed, as well as incidents of verbal and physical violence in public, reports The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
"Online incitement is part of a dangerous web of hatred that increases the threat to the Jewish community," Chikli said. "This is a time for real and determined action."
Before the Dec. 14 terror attack, there were an estimated 3,000 posts online containing mentions of antisemitism in Australia, but on the day of the attack, the number of mentions rose to 17,100, or a 420% increase.
On the day after the attack, the mentions grew to more than 21,500 posts, for the 600% increase.
And even after some of the posts were removed through social media platform moderation, the remaining antisemitic comments were still five times higher than the routine numbers.
The data was gathered through a continuous monitoring system that identifies terms connected with antisemitic rhetoric, including slurs and Holocaust denials, but filters out neutral mentions.
The Diaspora Affairs Ministry stressed that the wave of hatred wasn't only online, but included verbal attacks in person against Jewish students and property damage, creating fears of threats in the local community.
The ministry said it is working along with Australia's Jewish community and the Israeli government ministries to issue alerts and support schools and local institutions.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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