The third day of hearings of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion in Sydney has revealed deeply disturbing accounts of abuse and intimidation faced by Jewish Australians. Evidence presented on Wednesday detailed violent antisemitic abuse targeting a political candidate and a schoolboy being thrown into a garbage bin, among other incidents.
Political Candidate Targeted
Joshua Kirsh, an independent candidate for the New South Wales upper house, launched his campaign in late 2025. He told the commission that his online advertisements were flooded with antisemitic comments. “The ads … were deluged with antisemitic comments of a nature that was particularly vitriolic, in the sense of … ‘Fuck off you Zionist cunt’,” he said. Kirsh also reported conspiracy theories about Israel paying people to firebomb places in Australia and claims that the October 7 massacre was a false flag.
Kirsh catalogued the abuse and reported it to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry for its annual report on antisemitic incidents, describing the process as exhausting and distressing. He remains a candidate but noted that Jewish friends have been intimidated from participating in public life. “I’ve had a lot of conversations with people in the Jewish community who are incredibly bright and talented and would be perfect fits to be more involved in politics in this country. But their view is that they can’t bear the risk of receiving the kind of backlash I have received,” he said.
Threat of Gun Violence at Student Event
Kirsh also gave evidence about a 2019 incident when an Australasian Union of Jewish Students event he helped organise to celebrate Purim was threatened with gun violence. An anonymous correspondent using the name “Kill the Jews” sent a message stating: “Me and my friends have already purchased six automatic rifles as we plan to kill hundreds of Jewish students on the eve of Purim festivals.” The threat was reported to the Community Security Group and police. The event went ahead under strict security, but Kirsh described the experience as “terrifying”. “There was just this lingering fear in the back of my mind. This wasn’t something we publicised to students … we bore the brunt of that threat because that’s our responsibility as leaders in the community. For me, it was terrifying to think that, by choosing to go ahead with this event, we could be putting people’s lives in danger … That’s a pretty heavy burden to put on a 23-year-old,” he said.
School Bullying
A Jewish father, identified only as AAT, told the commission about the severe bullying his 13-year-old son endured at an Australian school. The boy was called a “dirty Jew”, a “stinky Jew”, subjected to Nazi salutes, physically squeezed until he couldn’t breathe, dragged across the floor, thrown into a garbage bin, and “dacked” (having his pants pulled down). Some students were suspended, but AAT felt the school offered “worse than zero support” and that the vice-principal dismissed the behaviour as “play fighting”. His son now faces antisemitic slurs at his new school, including a boy putting black tape on his lip to imitate Hitler’s moustache.
Protest Outside Hearings
Even as evidence was being given, a man wearing an antisemitic T-shirt was moved on by police outside the commission hearings in Sydney’s CBD. The T-shirt merged the Israeli flag with a swastika and bore the slogan “antisemitism, proud to be accused”. The man claimed he didn’t know the royal commission was being heard in the building behind him. “I’m enjoying a cup of coffee in the streets of Sydney. Why am I being assailed in such a fashion?” he asked. He denied being disrespectful, saying, “What’s disrespectful is what’s happening in Gaza, in Lebanon and overseas, the killing of innocent people and children.” The 68-year-old was later arrested.
Context of the Commission
The commission has heard evidence that Jews in Australia are being unjustifiably held responsible for the actions of the state of Israel or the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. The royal commission was established after December’s Bondi massacre, in which two alleged Islamic State-inspired gunmen allegedly shot and killed 15 people and injured 40 others at a beachside Hanukah event for the Jewish community. Hearings before commissioner Virginia Bell continue in Sydney.
