I witnessed the protest outside the Royal Commission today because some things cannot just be left alone.It was small. Pathetically small, really. The rain seemed to scare off most of the usual crowd. In the end, it looked like about 40 people standing around, chanting the same tired slogans, and repeating the same lines we have all heard before.
But the size of the protest is not the point. The point is that they were standing outside a Royal Commission into antisemitism and social cohesion, calling the whole thing a farce.
Inside, the Royal Commission is hearing evidence about what Jewish Australians have been living through: the abuse, the threats, the intimidation, the fear, and the way Jewish schools, synagogues, community organisations, students, families, and individuals have had to think about security and safety in a way most Australians never have to.
Outside, a small group of activists decided that the real problem was not antisemitism. The real problem, apparently, is that Jews are being heard.
That is what made it so offensive.
Of course, people have a right to protest. Of course, people can support Palestinians. Of course, people can criticise the Israeli Government. I have said that many times before, and it remains true. But that is not what this was.
This was not simply a protest saying, “supporting Palestine is not antisemitic”. That slogan is designed to sound reasonable. It is designed to make anyone who objects look like they are trying to silence legitimate political speech. But the actual message was far uglier.
They called the Royal Commission a farce. They accused it of demonising Palestine solidarity. They claimed it was silencing anti-Zionist Jews. They attacked pro-Israel and Zionist organisations for being given a platform.
In plain English, they were saying that mainstream Jewish organisations should not be trusted to speak about antisemitism because many of them support Israel. And there it is. That is the game we have seen over and over again.
If a Jew agrees with them, that Jew is held up as brave, moral, and authentic. If a Jewish organisation represents the mainstream community, or dares to speak about antisemitism while also supporting Israel’s right to exist, it is dismissed as Zionist propaganda.
That is not inclusion. It is tokenism. It is telling Jews that their experiences only count if their politics are acceptable to the people who are attacking them.
This is exactly why the Royal Commission matters.
Antisemitism is not always shouted through a megaphone in the most obvious language. Sometimes it comes dressed up in the language of activism. Sometimes it calls itself anti-racism. Sometimes it insists that Jewish safety is a threat to someone else’s freedom. Sometimes it turns Jewish concern into a conspiracy.
That is what we saw today: a group of protesters standing outside an inquiry into antisemitism, trying to delegitimise the inquiry itself. Not because they had been silenced, not because they had no other platform, and not because they had no way to make submissions or put their views forward. They were there because they do not like the idea of Jewish Australians being heard on their own terms.
That is the part that should concern everyone.
When Jews speak about antisemitism and the immediate response is “you are silencing Palestinians”, the issue is no longer a debate about Israel. It is a refusal to hear Jewish pain at all. When Jews speak about security and the response is “you are attacking civil liberties”, that is not solidarity. It is deflection. When Jewish communal organisations appear before a Royal Commission and are attacked as Zionist organisations, that is not criticism of Israel. It is an attempt to make Jewish representation seem dirty, political, and illegitimate.
And when people stand outside a Royal Commission into antisemitism and call it a farce, they should not be surprised when the Jewish community takes that personally. Because it is personal.
Jewish Australians have spent the last few years watching the mood in this country shift. We have seen the rallies, the signs, the chants, the abuse online, the hostility on campuses, the targeting of Jewish institutions, and the constant demand that Jews explain themselves, condemn something, distance themselves from someone, or prove they are the “right kind” of Jew.
Now there is finally a formal process looking at antisemitism in Australia, and the same crowd turns up outside to attack it. They may think they were making a point against the Royal Commission. They were not. They were making the case for it.
The protest was small. It was wet. It was unimpressive. But it still mattered because this kind of thing cannot be allowed to become background noise.
We cannot shrug and say, “It was only 40 people.” We cannot let the line go unchallenged that a Royal Commission into antisemitism is some kind of Zionist plot. We cannot allow activists to pretend they are defending free speech while they try to undermine the very forum where Jewish Australians are finally being asked to tell the truth about what has happened here.
There is a right to protest. There is a right to criticise Israel. There is a right to advocate for Palestinians. But there is also a responsibility to call out something obscene when it happens.
And standing outside a Royal Commission into antisemitism to call it a farce is obscene.
It tells Jewish Australians that even an inquiry into antisemitism is too much. It tells us that our concerns are still treated as political theatre. It tells us that some people will only accept Jewish voices if they are useful to their cause.
That is why I went today. Not because the protest was large. It was not. Not because it was clever. It was not. But because these things cannot go unanswered.
The Jewish community should not look away. The broader Australian community should not look away either. Because if a Royal Commission into antisemitism can be mocked, smeared, and protested while Jewish Australians are giving evidence, then the problem is even deeper than some people want to admit.
Today, outside the Royal Commission, they showed exactly why this inquiry is needed. And no matter how small the crowd was, that should worry every decent Australian.
Michael Gencher is Executive Director of StandWithUs Australia