A Sense of Embattlement: Australian Jewish Community Leadership’s Response to 9/11

Abstract

The turn of the twenty-first century and the subsequent Wars on Terror marked a critical juncture in the life of Jewish diasporas globally. This was particularly so for Australian Jewry – a community irrevocably shadowed by memories of the Holocaust and with deep connections to the State of Israel. This chapter argues that the connection of the 9/11 events by Jewish leadership had a major impact on communal discourse within the Australian Jewish diaspora. The diaspora’s established leadership linked the Second Intifada with September 11, associated Islamist terrorist acts against the West (particularly in the wake of subsequent attacks in Bali 2002, Madrid 2004, and London 2005), and perceived emergence of a ‘new anti-semitism’. The chapter examines how the Second Intifada was linked to broader global discourses of fear, vulnerability, and insecurity. These separate and quite complex events and phenomena were conflated with the view to foster greater support and solidarity for Israel on behalf of Australian Jews and the non-Jewish public. For over sixty years, the established leadership of the Australian Jewish diaspora has played a key role in driving Jewish support for Israel, especially during times of upheaval and insecurity. The period 2000–2004 serves as a pertinent example of this activity.