Mr DANBY (1:14 PM) —I formally second the motion. I commend the member for Wentworth and the organisation B'nai B'rith, which suggested this motion to us, on bringing this motion before the House. I have obviously a deep personal interest in this motion as the only Jewish member of the current parliament. As I said in my first speech to this House, my grandparents were victims of European anti-Semitism, and my father came to this country as a refugee in 1939.

Australia is regarded by many people in this country who are of Jewish origin as a `goldeneh medinah'—a golden country—that is, the 120,000 Jewish Australians or 0.6 per cent of our population regard it as that. Thousands of my constituents survived the Shoah to settle in post-war Australia and lead successful, constructive lives. Australia continues to provide a haven for people such as the former residents of the former Soviet Union who are also found in large numbers in my electorate. I believe Australia has gained immensely through its generosity to Jewish Australians. Names such as Sir Isaac Isaacs, Sir John Monash and Sir Zelman Cowen come to mind. In this parliament I recall recent distinguished Jewish members such as former Senator Sam Cohen, Dr Moss Cass, the Hon. Joe Berinson, former Senator Peter Baume and my good friend the former minister for the arts and the environment, Barry Cohen.

But even in Australia it is sad to have to note that incidents of anti-Semitic speech and action continue and have increased in recent years. To its great credit, on 7 September the premier current affairs program in this country, the Sunday program—with John Lyons as the reporter and Peter Hiscock as the executive producer—did a very important reprise of the physical threats and violence which Jewish Australians face because of the changed world situation. For anyone who is seriously interested in this issue, that Sunday program is essential viewing. The Internet is a favourite medium for these new anti-Semites to spread their bizarre conspiracy theories. As the member for Wentworth said, many members of this House can recall getting some of these crazed emails, particularly during the Iraq war. Only this morning some crank faxed one of these prejudiced screeds to all federal MPs.

Anti-Semitism in various forms has been a feature of European societies for 2,000 years and has spread even to societies where there are no Jews at all, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. We all know the situation in Malaysia, with the very recent bigoted statements by its former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir. Led by Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church, mainstream Christianity today condemns anti-Semitism, and that legacy of Jewish-Catholic reconciliation will be a great legacy of His Holiness the Pope. In the late 19th century a new form of secular anti-Semitism, based on pseudo-Darwinian theories of racial superiority came into vogue. It was this evil ideology above all other factors that motivated Hitler and his seizure of most of Europe. This cursed and demonic hate nearly led to what Winston Churchill called `the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister by the lights of perverted science'. In that abyss, six million Jews were murdered—in a war that civilisation only survived after the death of a total of 50 million people.

For a time it seemed that anti-Semitism would not raise its head again because of the Holocaust. However, today it has found new bases and new slogans, particularly in one of the persistent phenomena of our time, anti-Americanism. No-one resiles from our right to vociferously disagree with the citizens or government of the United States, a fellow democracy. It is, however, worrying to see mainstream ABC TV programs talk about US policy makers in terms of their Jewish origins. It is far more worrying to see the infiltration of prejudice into it than screeds from cranks that arrive via email. The new anti-Semitism has also affected some people in the intellectual classes.

I do not equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism; it is reasonable to make criticisms of any country's government, including Israeli policies and actions—indeed, many Jews are among Israel's critics. However, some of what passes for anti-Zionism these days is a form of anti-Semitism. This is the kind of rhetoric that accuses Israel of genocide, such as the mythical massacre at the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. Claims that Zionists control the world's media or banks, or that the United States has a Zionist-occupied government are part of this kind of modern anti-Semitism. These people do not wear black armbands or jackboots. Some of them hide in universities and the media; others order the bombing of synagogues, like Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's No. 2 who articulates its anti-Jewish ideology. And this unreasoning hatred, whether it is from Hitler or Osama bin Laden, is a lethal threat not just to Jews but to people all over the world. (Time expired)