‘Societies where antisemitism takes root will always fail’: UK expert tells royal commission

A leading British expert on antisemitism has told the royal commission that social cohesion is at risk when conspiracy theories, such as “Jews pull the strings”, are allowed to flourish.

Dr Dave Rich, policy director at the UK-based Community Security Trust which is responsible for protecting British Jews from terrorism, appeared via video link on Thursday, the final witness in the first block of hearings which focused on the lived experience of Jews.

Rich provided the commission with a report that canvassed the historical roots of antisemitism as well as outlining antisemitic tropes, including the ancient blood libel myth, which claimed that Jewish people were driven to murder children.

His report also looked at the application of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is being used by the royal commission. Rich said the definition had been adopted by 46 United Nations member states, “240 higher education providers”, local councils and has “even been adopted by football clubs”.

“The core idea of antisemitism is that the Jews are always up to something, you can’t trust them, they have always got a hidden agenda,” Rich said.

“It’s a conspiracy theory that claims that whatever is happening in the world, the story you’re being told about it by the authorities, isn’t true. The true story is that there’s some Jews somewhere pulling the strings, making it happen, whether that’s all Jews or the Rothschilds or the State of Israel or the Zionist lobby.”

Rich warned that this conspiracy theory “undermines trust in institutions and trust in authority”.

“It tells people that governments, mainstream media, police, established authorities, even science, they’re all lying to you because they’re not telling you the truth about who’s really doing things,” he said.

“Societies where antisemitism take root will always fail in one way or another.”

Progressive group the Jewish Council of Australia was granted limited leave to appear before the commission. The council was represented by barrister Peggy Dwyer, SC, who acted as counsel assisting the coroner in the inquest into the Bondi Junction stabbings.

Dwyer told the commission that the council had “cautioned against the use of Nazi symbology” but wanted to ensure “legitimate criticism of Israel is not weaponised”.

Dwyer pressed Rich on whether the Jerusalem Declaration, the preferred definition of the council, was a better tool for defining antisemitism. “No, it’s flawed,” Rich said.

The declaration says: “Antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).”

Rich said the IHRA definition “was written by practitioners to be a practical tool [while] the Jerusalem Declaration was written by academics to set out their views”.

“When I look at the Jerusalem Declaration and I ask myself, could the safety officer at the MCG who’s got a complaint of antisemitism from a fan at a cricket match use the Jerusalem Declaration as a helpful, practical tool?” Rich said.

“And I think that stadium safety officer would get about a third of the way through and give up.”

The second block of hearings, starting on May 25, will focus on the Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14, which killed 15 people, most of whom were Jewish.

The commission will look at the terrorism threat level in the lead-up to the attack and the conduct of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including what was known about the shooters.

There will also be a probe into security arrangements for the Bondi Beach event on December 14 as well as a focus on “how intelligence about individuals known to authorities is utilised and shared to inform decisions made by security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies”.

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