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I received an antisemitic leaflet in my letterbox – and yet I cherish free speech I received an antisemitic leaflet in my letterbox – and yet I cherish free speech
(6 days later)
Last week a flyer came through my letterbox harbouring the message “wake up white Australia”. It’s argument read something like this:Last week a flyer came through my letterbox harbouring the message “wake up white Australia”. It’s argument read something like this:
Jews have been displaced over 100 times. Are they the victims of persecution, or have they been kicked out of their homes so often because they harm the countries in which they reside?Jews have been displaced over 100 times. Are they the victims of persecution, or have they been kicked out of their homes so often because they harm the countries in which they reside?
It went on to invite me to join my local white supremacist group. I’m white and soon to become an Australian. I’m British, and share much of my language, history and culture with the flyer’s authors. Hateful beliefs aside, I believe I have more points in common with them than I do points of difference.So why am I scared? I’m also Jewish, and that’s all that matters to the neo-Nazis. Not that I’m an atheist, not that I have size eight feet, not that I disagree with the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, not that I enjoy snowboarding and pub trivia, not that I’m one of the 7.2bn people on this earth whose identity runs much deeper than an ethnic label.No, to these people who have never met me all that matters is that I’m a Semite. My mother’s Jewish, I have the blood of the Tribe running through my veins, and that quirk of my DNA makes me a global conspirator and an enemy of the state. At least get to know me before inviting me to join your club and kick myself out of the country. Of course, I’m one of the “lucky” ones. I’m white. English is my first language. I blend in. I’ve never had a train passenger hurl abuse at me because I look different. I’ve never been threatened on a bus for singing in a different language. And, barring a tremendous wave of anti-English sentiment washing over the country, I’m never going to have to face this kind of persecution.I’m also lucky to be able to express my views on this topic. I thank the Jewish God that I don’t believe in that I live in a country where freedom of speech is respected. Where the attorney general has a platform to defend our “right to be bigots”, and then have his party’s proposed racial discrimination act amendments debated and dumped through the democratic process. Where we can openly debate where the limits of freedom of speech end and freedom from persecution begin.Should freedom of speech be legally curtailed in certain instances, as it is in countries such as Australia, the UK and Germany? Or should it be a right that’s constitutionally defended to the hilt no matter how sinister the cause that uses it, as is the case in the US? In a free market of public expressions of belief, does the consensus lead us towards a rational course of action? Or do the majority agree with whoever has the loudest megaphone?I lean towards limiting freedom of speech in certain cases. As someone who’s initial reaction to having an antisemitic flyer put through my letterbox was fear, and as a human being who believes in freedom from persecution, I take solace in the fact that had the Coalition successfully amended the racial discrimination act and dumped section 18C, the revised actwould still have contained the words “vilify”, “incite hatred” and “intimidate” in its new form.I’m also thankful that we have the freedom to debate whether or not offending, insulting or humiliating someone on the grounds of race, colour or national or ethnic origin should continue to be a criminal offence, as it is under the current legislation.We have the freedom to have an open discussion that’s denied to so many on this planet. So let’s wake up Australia, white or otherwise. Let’s use our freedom of speech to engage in the national debate. Let’s challenge misinformation and intolerance through the channels that are available to us. Let’s remind the bigots that an ethnicity is not something to be feared, but that hate most certainly is. It went on to invite me to join my local white supremacist group. I’m white and soon to become an Australian. I’m British, and share much of my language, history and culture with the flyer’s authors. Hateful beliefs aside, I believe I have more points in common with them than I do points of difference.So why am I scared? I’m also Jewish, and that’s all that matters to the neo-Nazis. Not that I’m an atheist, not that I have size eight feet, not that I disagree with the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, not that I enjoy snowboarding and pub trivia, not that I’m one of the 7.2bn people on this earth whose identity runs much deeper than an ethnic label. No, to these people who have never met me all that matters is that I’m a Semite. My mother’s Jewish, I have the blood of the Tribe running through my veins, and that quirk of my DNA makes me a global conspirator and an enemy of the state. At least get to know me before inviting me to join your club and kick myself out of the country. Of course, I’m one of the “lucky” ones. I’m white. English is my first language. I blend in. I’ve never had a train passenger hurl abuse at me because I look different. I’ve never been threatened on a bus for singing in a different language. And, barring a tremendous wave of anti-English sentiment washing over the country, I’m never going to have to face this kind of persecution.I’m also lucky to be able to express my views on this topic. I thank the Jewish God that I don’t believe in that I live in a country where freedom of speech is respected. Where the attorney general has a platform to defend our “right to be bigots”, and then have his party’s proposed racial discrimination act amendments debated and dumped through the democratic process. Where we can openly debate where the limits of freedom of speech end and freedom from persecution begin.Should freedom of speech be legally curtailed in certain instances, as it is in countries such as Australia, the UK and Germany? Or should it be a right that’s constitutionally defended to the hilt no matter how sinister the cause that uses it, as is the case in the US? In a free market of public expressions of belief, does the consensus lead us towards a rational course of action? Or do the majority agree with whoever has the loudest megaphone?I lean towards limiting freedom of speech in certain cases. As someone who’s initial reaction to having an antisemitic flyer put through my letterbox was fear, and as a human being who believes in freedom from persecution, I take solace in the fact that had the Coalition successfully amended the racial discrimination act and dumped section 18C, the revised actwould still have contained the words “vilify”, “incite hatred” and “intimidate” in its new form.I’m also thankful that we have the freedom to debate whether or not offending, insulting or humiliating someone on the grounds of race, colour or national or ethnic origin should continue to be a criminal offence, as it is under the current legislation.We have the freedom to have an open discussion that’s denied to so many on this planet. So let’s wake up Australia, white or otherwise. Let’s use our freedom of speech to engage in the national debate. Let’s challenge misinformation and intolerance through the channels that are available to us. Let’s remind the bigots that an ethnicity is not something to be feared, but that hate most certainly is.