‘We were lost’: Jewish MP revisits office arson attack

When Josh Burns was awoken in the dead of night and told his workplace had been violently attacked, his first concern was his community. 

“I felt almost guilty,” the Macnamara Labor MP, who is Jewish, told the royal commission into anti-Semitism about the events in June 2024.  

Anti-Semitic slurs had been written across the facade of his electorate office. A picture of him had horns spray painted on it, with the words “Zionism is fascism” inscribed in red across his face. 

Windows were smashed and fires were lit in telecommunications pits outside the building, causing hours-long outages for surrounding businesses.  

Families who lived in nearby apartments, including one with a newborn baby, were evacuated at 3am. 

It was the moment he knew the “goldene medina” – or golden land – was over for Jewish people in Australia, which had previously felt safe for generations. 

“I felt like we were lost. How was this part of the democracy that we all (work for)? How was this going to solve anything in the Middle East?” Mr Burns said. 

“All it did was cost $100,000 to fix it and scare a lot of people.”

He said an “us and them” narrative online, suggesting that all Jewish Australians were loyal to the state of Israel and its actions in Gaza, had emerged. 

“A lot of the commentary directed at me suggests somehow I am celebrating … the death of Palestinian kids.

“That is absolutely not the case,” he said. “It’s a complete dehumanisation of Jewish people.” 

The politician said criticism of specific Israeli policies or Australia’s movements in the Middle East were “fair game”, even encouraged, as a sign of people enacting their democratic rights, but he condemned abuse being levelled at Jewish Australians because of those policies. 

Online anti-Semitic abuse has also been spewed at his non-Jewish partner, Victorian Legislative Council member Georgie Purcell, with a “layer of misogyny” on top of it. 

“To see someone cop this sort of abuse (just because they are with you) – it’s devastating,” Mr Burns said.

The anti-Semitism royal commission resumed in public view on Monday after a behind-closed-doors stretch focused on security issues.

For the next fortnight, commissioners will be trained on the role of media – particularly the ABC and SBS – and the nature, prevalence and drivers of anti-Semitism and other hate speech on social media.

The commission heard how Jewish Australian school children had been sent death threats and attacked with Nazi slurs.

A father, known by the pseudonym ACF, told the anti-Semitism probe his son had been uncharacteristically glued to his phone since the attack by terror group Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The boy, who was seven at the time, was told by friends that his “Israelian” family should be killed by the terrorist organisation.

“I hope Hamas bombs your fat arses,” one post said.

”You should kill yourself,” said another.

Parents of Jewish children have called for a tightening of social media monitoring to target abuse. 

Mr Burns, a proponent of his government’s under-16 social media ban, also called for rules to be strengthened.

A number of witnesses including Ben Adler, a prominent musician with Sydney Youth Orchestra, will front the commission on Tuesday.

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