You can literally just be sitting there not saying or doing anything and still find yourself getting arrested and prosecuted for an antisemitic hate crime. They have the authority to do this presently, under the laws that already exist.
An Australian woman with an intellectual disability is facing prosecution for antisemitic hate crimes after inadvertently pocket-dialing a Jewish nutritionist. The resulting silent voicemail allegedly caused the nutritionist “immediate fear and nervousness” because she thought some background noises resembled gunfire.
Authorities are pushing for more of such measures. Current proposals for “hate speech” laws under development threaten to worsen the situation. Australia’s contentious Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill is designed to significantly expand the scope, frequency, and penalties related to cases like this, while aiming to eliminate dissent against Israel nationwide.
Australia’s reaction to “antisemitism” has become excessively extreme. Simply sitting silently can lead to arrest and prosecution for antisemitic hate crimes. Presently, existing laws empower authorities to do this. The rationale behind this bill claims that the current harshly authoritarian system is not authoritarian enough and that legal officials require greater authority to regulate speech more aggressively.
The Australian public is expected to trust a system willing to prosecute a cognitively impaired woman over an accidental call to a Jewish person, with the power to imprison individuals for their political expressions. This comes after years of observing authorities implement repressive tactics to suppress protests and criticism of Israel amid ongoing genocide.
This is utter madness that must be stopped immediately. The nation has lost all reason.
The Bondi attack serves as a pretext, not the actual cause. The legislative crackdown on criticisms of Israel was planned long before that incident occurred.
Shortly after the attack last month, I tweeted, “Not a lot of info about the Bondi shooting yet but it’s safe to assume it will be used as an excuse to target pro-Palestine activists and further outlaw criticism of Israel in Australia, as has been happening to a greater and greater extent in this country for the last two years.”
Instead of disproving me, they have fully confirmed my prediction. The intense crackdown on anti-genocide protests and efforts to silence critiques of Israel and Zionism since then plainly show this.
No link exists between pro-Palestine protests and the Bondi shooting. The attack was unrelated to Palestinians or anti-genocide gatherings. This false narrative is being perpetuated by Israel’s advocates through constant repetition to manipulate Australian public opinion. They feign belief solely to advance the interests of a genocidal apartheid regime.
Israel’s supporters depend on propaganda, misinformation, censorship, and repression because that is all they possess. They lack truth, sound arguments, or moral standing. Their approach involves imposing support for Israel and its crimes regardless of public consent, punishing those who resist. Brutal force is their only tactic.
This must be met with fierce resistance. The more Israel and its backers infringe upon our right to criticize their actions, the more vehemently we must resist. The battle has shifted from opposing war and genocide in the Middle East to defending our own civil liberties. It is now a direct personal fight. They are targeting us explicitly.
Original article: caitlinjohnstone.com.au
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