{"id":62087,"date":"2026-07-31T03:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/62087\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T03:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:55:09","slug":"antisemitism-inquiry-hears-from-jewish-australian-artist-cancelled-after-private-group-chat-doxxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/62087\/","title":{"rendered":"Antisemitism inquiry hears from Jewish Australian artist &#8216;cancelled&#8217; after private group chat doxxing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">A Jewish Australian artist has said she was &#8220;cancelled&#8221;, dropped from her residency and lost friends after the leaking of a private message in which she described terrorist group Hamas as &#8220;animals&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Representatives of Australia&#8217;s arts and creative industry are fronting the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which has been considering the use of education and training to combat hate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The inquiry has previously heard evidence about hundreds of creatives whose information and messages were leaked in the doxxing of a private chat group in early 2024.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman with short, dark hair in a large storage space.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5e2f47b3fb0e9b966104c8c62abd001a.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">Nina Sanadze was involved in the collection of floral tributes following the Bondi attack. (ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Melbourne artist Nina Sanadze told the inquiry a private message in which she described terrorist group Hamas as &#8220;animals&#8221; in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel was released in the leak.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Sanadze said she was immediately &#8220;dropped&#8221; from friendship groups and was told by the art institution she was attached to that it would be &#8220;inappropriate&#8221; for her to come to the studio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">She said she had told her employer before the doxxing event she would leave the studio, due to the increase in antisemitic sentiment in the community post-October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I said &#8216;let me leave&#8217;. They were concerned it would look antisemitic \u2026 don&#8217;t leave,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Sanadze said she was subsequently &#8220;interrogated&#8221; about her political beliefs by the art institution after the doxxing event in early 2024.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was told that if I did not leave the studios, there would be more \u2026 information released by unknown people, they wouldn&#8217;t mention who, to discredit and damage my reputation. So I was threatened with that unless I left,&#8221;  she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Sanadze went on to open the Goldstone Gallery in early 2025, saying there was &#8220;no other place for people like [her] to exhibit&#8221; their art.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The inquiry heard the gallery had hosted public events, poetry readings, live music and discussions between Palestinian and Israeli women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The gallery is currently closed, with Ms Sanadze saying Jewish artists were hesitant to publicly exhibit their work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;There&#8217;s no funding, there&#8217;s no security, it is very hard,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;The artists are scared to exhibit, and it&#8217;s getting worse after [the terror attack in] Bondi.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;People fear, not only for their safety but for their reputational damage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Sanadze was involved in the collection of three tonnes of floral tributes left at Bondi Pavilion after the shooting on December 14, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Flowers and tributes, including a menorah, laid out at vigil for Bondi attack victims.\" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f33c3a4b075f368f07da4d76b5102398.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">The vigil established at Bondi Pavilion following the December 14 terror attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The flowers have been transported to Melbourne, where they are being used to create an exhibition for the Sydney Jewish Museum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">Ms Sanadze said the flowers were a visible demonstration of the &#8220;outpouring and support&#8221; for the Jewish community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;The flowers meant for me and for the Jewish community \u2026 they symbolise cohesion and empathy and standing together,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Comedian told he didn&#8217;t &#8216;look Jewish&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The inquiry heard from a Jewish comedian, who used the pseudonym CGM, who shared some of the material he performs at festivals and gigs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Earlier this year, I was outside a bar speaking to a non-Jewish friend who said to me, &#8216;you don&#8217;t experience antisemitism do you? You don&#8217;t even look Jewish&#8217;,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I asked him, &#8216;what does Jewish look like, horns?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It&#8217;s true, I don&#8217;t look like [Jerry] Seinfeld, but that didn&#8217;t stop my synagogue in Melbourne from being \u2026 set on fire recently, or the synagogue where I did my bat mitzvah from being rammed by a car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;Nor did it stop my workplace from being firebombed and graffitied to depict my Jewish boss with horns.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A man with tied up curly hair and a beard in a grey coat, giving evidence. \" class=\"Image_image__5tFYM ContentImage_image__DQ_cq\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bba47d1c6aafba6611bfbc2731b7abce.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"Image\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Typography_base__sj2RP FigureCaption_text__zDxQ5 Typography_sizeMobile12__w_FPC Typography_lineHeightMobile20___U7Vr Typography_regular__WeIG6 Typography_colourInherit__dfnUx\" data-component=\"Typography\">A witness described feeling &#8220;fear and shame&#8221; after the October 7, 2023 attack.\u00a0 (Suppied: Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">The comic said his peers had helped him when he started to isolate himself after October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;After a few weeks, a comic with a Muslim background reached out to me and said &#8216;where have you been?&#8217; I said I just feel like staying in \u2026 I feel so much fear and shame,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;[The other comic] said to me &#8216;brother, I&#8217;ve seen your act, you should have been feeling fear and shame the whole time.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;He said &#8216;don&#8217;t be stupid, come and tell jokes.&#8217; He gave me a spot at his gig, which is a very generous thing for a comic to do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">CGM said he later told the other comic he felt &#8220;[Jewish] blood is cheap to people&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;He said [the Muslim community] feel the same,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;I think there&#8217;s a lot of feelings and a lot of pain. But we didn&#8217;t hurt each other, we made each other laugh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;That is one example of the best of the industry and what I hope people would want out of their arts industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph_paragraph___QITb\">&#8220;It is interesting to be in that nuance and that connection rather than the binary I think that&#8217;s what makes great art.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>More on the royal commission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Jewish Australian artist has said she was &#8220;cancelled&#8221;, dropped from her residency and lost friends after the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[42,22,21,5139,1010,3304,596,2817,247],"class_list":["post-62087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-antisemitism","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-bondi","tag-inquiry","tag-jewish","tag-nsw","tag-royal-commission","tag-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}