While hundreds were killed in Gaza this week the Israel lobby held a luxury summit for local councillors on the Gold Coast to suppress criticism of Israel. Wendy Bacon and Stephanie Tran report.
As Israel intensified its assault on Gaza this week, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble and killing hundreds in Gaza City, its supporters in Australia gathered this week at a luxury resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
The Australian Mayors’ Summit Against Antisemitism, hosted by the US-backed Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), convened mayors, politicians and business leaders offering all-inclusive travel and accommodation. Among the throng were figures associated with far right wing group Advance Australia such as Stanley Roth and Sharon Kuper.
The mayor of Waverley Council in Sydney unveiled the Council’s Model Antisemitism Strategy to delegates even before the event had ended on Friday.
Luxury lobbying while Gaza burns
Gaza’s media office says Israel has detonated at least 100 explosive-laden robots in Gaza City over the past three weeks to destroy entire residential blocks and neighbourhoods. About 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza City alone during Israel’s assault there since August 13.
“Sheikh Radwan is being turned upside-down,” resident Zakeya Sami told Reuters. “If the takeover of Gaza City isn’t stopped, we might die. We won’t forgive anyone who watches this and does nothing.”
But inside the Gold Coast resort, the deaths of Palestinians were absent from the agenda. Instead, the focus was on how Australian councils could suppress criticism of Israel and clamp down on pro-Palestinian movements.
The summit is run by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), an organisation bankrolled by US right-wing donors. Its mission: lobby governments and institutions to adopt the discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism, which deliberately equates criticism of Israel with anti-semitism.
Critics of Antisemitism Summit ‘antisemitic’ says Israeli antisemitism chief
Political complicity
Australian leaders from across the political establishment lined up to endorse the event.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, opposition leader Sussan Ley, and former prime minister Julia Gillard all sent supportive video messages. Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay, UNSW chancellor David Gonski, and Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal were among the featured speakers.
The summit also had the backing of federal local government minister Kristy McBain and her NSW counterpart Ron Hoenig.
Jewish writer Veronica Sherman attended a protest outside the summit. She challenged the narrative that the pro-Palestine movement was antisemitic telling MWM the following:
“I’m an Israeli citizen, who served 2 years in the Israeli airforce. Last month, I went to the Sydney Harbour Bridge pro-Palestine protest with a sign that clearly said I was Jewish and I was met with only love and warmth. I then saw Combat Antisemitism Movement’s vile and toxic posts labelling the march as antisemitic. Reading CAM’s social media and speakers list it was clear that these people only amplify antisemitism.
“They do nothing to make Jews safe. I wanted to come here as Jewish person to show that some Jews are against this and because I knew they would only accuse other protesters of antisemitism. If we are going to discuss antisemitism, let’s discuss all forms of racism but right now, we should all be focused on stopping the genocide that is unfolding in front of our eyes.”
Jewish writer Veronica Sherman
Criminalising Palestinian existence
The summit’s agenda extended to an attempt to police Palestinian identity itself. One of the most alarming features of the summit was a CAM report cataloguing supposed “antisemitic” symbols.
The list included the watermelon, long used as a discreet emblem of Palestinian solidarity when the flag was banned, as well as the keffiyeh scarf and the flag itself.
The attempt to prohibit these symbols reveals the true purpose of CAM’s campaign, to erase Palestinian culture and silence any expression of resistance. According to the CAM Action Plan, which was released today, incidents of antisemitism should be monitored and reported to authorities. And councils should partner with police on managing public protests.
25-08-26_Digital_CAM_Antisemitism Symbols Report 
Cover for a genocide
Last month, Israel’s security cabinet formally approved the occupation of Gaza City, the latest step in a genocidal sequence of destruction, starvation, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. What Palestinians describe as the dream of “Greater Israel” is being realised in real time.
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Wendy Bacon is an investigative journalist who was the Professor of Journalism at UTS. She worked for Fairfax, Channel Nine and SBS and has published in The Guardian, New Matilda, City Hub and Overland. She has a long history in promoting independent and alternative journalism.
She is a long-term supporter of a peaceful BDS and the Greens.
Stephanie is a journalist and has a law/journalism degree. She was a finalist for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award and the winner of the 2021 Democracy’s Watchdogs Award for Student Investigative Reporting.