The murderous attack carried out in Sydney during a public celebration of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which left 16 people dead and around 40 injured, constitutes a shocking crime. People taking part in a peaceful celebration were targeted solely because of their religious and cultural identity.
Although, at the time of writing, the motives of the alleged perpetrators have not yet been officially established, media reports indicate that one of the attackers appears to have had links to Islamic State.
We stand firmly against all forms of antisemitism, racism, and the collective targeting of people on the basis of religion or origin. Antisemitism (hatred against Jews) has historically cost millions of human lives, leading to oppression and persecution, culminating in the Holocaust. Combating such phenomena is a fundamental duty of the Left and of the workers’ movement.
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From the very first moment after the attack, Netanyahu rushed to declare that “your policy is pouring oil on the fire of antisemitism,” referring to the Australian government’s move to recognise a Palestinian state.
In this way, he is attempting to turn reality on its head. In essence, it is the horrific policies of the Israeli state that have intensified the hatred felt by many towards that country—and which arm the hands of fanatical Islamists. Without in any way seeking to justify any logic of retaliation in which innocent Jews pay the price, it is clear that genocide itself “pours oil on the fire” of antisemitism and creates the breeding ground in which extreme Islamist groups can recruit their next fighters.
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Just as it is criminal to target ordinary Jews for the crimes of the Israeli army, it is equally criminal to collectively target Muslims for the crimes of terrorist organisations that claim to act in the name of Islam. In all these cases, it is ordinary people who pay for crimes that are not their own, while the real perpetrators remain untouched.
The governments of the West also bear enormous responsibility. On the one hand, they declare that they “condemn the killing of civilians” and acknowledge the Palestinians’ right to their own state; on the other, they provide political, economic, and military support to the genocide in Gaza and to Israel’s expansionist policy in the Middle East. This hypocrisy poisons societies and paves the way for groups that promote fanaticism and blind violence.
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The far right everywhere will seek to exploit the attack in Sydney in order to further promote Islamophobia. The collective, racist targeting of Muslims must be answered by the Left and by social movements on a class basis. After all, the person who heroically disarmed one of the attackers was a Muslim, a migrant from Syria.
The only way out lies in the common struggle of workers and the oppressed, regardless of religion, nationality, or origin, against imperialism, capitalism, and the ruling classes that use war and division to perpetuate their power.
Only in this way can the vicious circle of hatred and violence be broken and new tragedies prevented.
