Darlings of the freedom movement must denounce the anti-Semites in their wings – The Sydney Morning Herald

Is RDA a Jew-hating group?

You seem to be a long way behind the rest of us mate - Every group should be an anti-Jew group because they want you exterminated. Thats fact.

At no point in its history has RDA confronted, or even fully acknowledged, the use anti-Semites have made of the organisation. The RDA castigates outlets who report on its tolerance of neo-Nazis in its milieu as propagandists for the Victorian government. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic incidents connected with the anti-lockdown movement continue to occur from stickers claiming Jews committed the September 11 attacks, to Judaicised depictions of Dan Andrews with horns and a skullcap appearing at RDA-affiliated rallies.

Craig Kelly has not clearly acknowledged or spoken out against the antisemitism among his affiliates.Credit:SMH

Craig Kelly has taken a page from the RDA book, adopting a similar combination of disinterest and outrage when asked about the spread of anti-Semitism among his affiliates. In September, Plus61J brought the issue to Craig Kellys attention, providing him with a cache of evidence about how neo-Nazis are endorsing him and using the freedom movement to endanger the safety of the Australian Jewish community. We asked if he would disavow endorsements received from such groups. In his response, Kelly stated: I have many close friends that are Jewish and declared that any insinuation that he had any connection to anti-Semitism whatsoever was false and highly defamatory.

Together, RDA and the UAP have sent a dangerous message to extremists in the anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown community: you can deny the Holocaust, you can promote conversations on the Jewish question, you can share articles from neo-Nazi websites, and you can bring racist placards to our rallies and we will not reject you. We may not share your views, but we will bring you onto our channel, we will allow you to use our online spaces for recruitment, and we will deny in the strongest possible terms that you have any presence in our movement.

Both the RDA and the UAP have denounced political violence and urged protestors to be peaceful. Such denouncements, while welcome, have not been enough to alleviate the concerns of the Australian Jewish community. It is not unspecified violence that is the issue, but a very particular form of demagoguery and fanaticism that shows few signs of abatement.

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There is nothing racist or fascist about questioning vaccine mandates and lockdowns. These are new measures, new shared experiences, and they have understandably generated public debate. However, it is in the interests of all involved for the leaders of the anti-lockdown movement to emphatically disassociate themselves from the neo-Nazis in their wings.

If RDA or the UAP were to release a statement acknowledging and condemning the spread of anti-Semitism in their movement the effects would be immeasurable. These two actors are the darlings of the freedom movement, with the largest audiences and the most engaged followings. A strong signal from them would disrupt the pipeline of recruitment and push the anti-Semites back into the shadows.

Without intervention, the road of escalation leads only one way. It has no natural limits. It is the nature of hate groups to push their demands as far as external conditions will allow. What happens next will depend on Kelly and the moderate wing of the anti-lockdown movement.

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Darlings of the freedom movement must denounce the anti-Semites in their wings - The Sydney Morning Herald