As Israel its assault on Gaza, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble and killing hundreds in Gaza City, its supporters in Australia gathered September 3–5 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 travel and accommodation. Among the throng were figures such as Stanley Roth, associated with far-right group Advance Australia.
The Mayor of Waverley Council unveiled the Council’s to delegates even before the event had ended.
Gaza’s media office that, in the past three weeks, Israel has set off more than 100 explosive-laden robots in Gaza City to destroy whole residential areas and neighbourhoods.
Since August 13, the assault on the city has left around 1100 Palestinians dead.
“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 the deaths of Palestinians were absent from the Gold Coast resort agenda. Instead, the focus was on how councils could suppress criticism of Israel and clamp down on pro-Palestinian movements.
The summit was run by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), an organisation by United States right-wing donors. Its mission: lobby governments and institutions to adopt the discredited IHRA definition of antisemitism, which deliberately equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Deputy Prime Minister , Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and former prime minister Julia Gillard sent video messages. Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay, University of NSW 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 Ron Hoenig, her NSW counterpart.
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 two 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.”
The summit’s agenda extended to an attempt to police Palestinian identity itself. One of the most alarming features 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 on September 5, incidents of antisemitism should be monitored and reported to authorities, and councils should partner with police on managing public protests.
Last month, Israel’s security cabinet the occupation of Gaza City, the latest step in a genocidal sequence of destruction, starvation, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. The dream of “Greater Israel” is being realised in real time.
[Wendy Bacon and Stephanie Tran write for Michael West Media, where .]