Antisemitism envoy grilled on ‘uncivil’ rally ban call

Australia’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism has clashed with politicians over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests from city centres.

Jillian Segal gave evidence to a NSW parliamentary inquiry examining antisemitism in the state on Friday and was pressed on previous statements where she labelled the weekly demonstrations as “intimidatory” and “sinister”.

Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an “uncivil way to describe them and the people participating”.

“These sorts of calls that ultimately aren’t grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect,” he said.

Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests.

She relied on the experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated.

“It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to,” Ms Segal said.

“We should be able to go to our city and not feel that.

“They were being jostled, they weren’t allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to.”

The inquiry was set up in February after a swathe of anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney, including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in the city’s east.

The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification in expanding anti-protest laws to include a ban on rallies outside places of worship like synagogues.

But Australian Human Rights Commission president Hugh de Kretser said distinguishing between anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel remained tricky.

“This is obviously one of the most critical issues … when the Jewish community and other communities are judging the fairness of particular rules or policies or laws about whether they get that balance right,” he said.

A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader’s former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations.

At a previous hearing, some Jewish Australians labelled the inquiry “troubling” because it risked exacerbating anti-Semitism by focusing on just one form of racism.

An Islamist preacher could not be criminally prosecuted for anti-Semitic sermons, but new laws could allow police to pursue similar cases.

An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people “vile” couldn’t face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments.

A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad’s speech as containing “fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic” tropes and making “perverse generalisations” about Jewish people.

But police did not have the scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed.

“The legal advice was it wouldn’t reach the threshold for prosecution,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told the state parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective.

Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements.

The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence.

“The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold,” Mr Hudson said.

The new law would “fill that gap”, he said.

Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism, but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future.

By Alex Mitchell/AAP