<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of Australia's most respected judicial and vice-regal officials has accused politicians, police and universities of failing Jewish Australians by not doing enough to "stamp out" the surge of antisemitic hatred across the country. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Hon. Linda Dessau, a former family court judge who was governor of Victoria for eight years, has called for more protesters to be prosecuted and warns that the Jewish community is living "in fear".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She says the broader community needs to stand publicly against division and hate speech and warns that social cohesion is fragile and under threat.</span></div></div><div><iframe frameborder="0" height="150px" src="https://omny.fm/shows/neil-mitchell-asks-why/why-our-leaders-are-failing-in-the-face-of-anti-semitism-with-linda-dessau/embed?style=cover" width="100%"></iframe></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Speaking on the podcast </span><em><span>Neil Mitchell Asks Why?,</span></em><span> she highlighted the inconsistency between the way Australian Muslims were supported after the September 11 attacks and how Jewish Australians have been treated since the war in Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked if Jewish people were frightened, she said: "Yes. It has to be stopped."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked how they could be reassured, Dessau, herself Jewish, said: "By having leaders in the community, and I mean political leaders and police, doing what needs to be done to stop it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The (Jewish) community feels let down because in other instances these things have been stopped right at the source and should have been here too."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/neil-mitchell-jewish-community-living-in-fear-as-antisemitism-surges-linda-dessau-says/29f8d34a-e30a-43a3-8005-245487999fad" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>NEIL MITCHELL: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/neil-mitchell-being-trusting-is-no-longer-endearing-its-dangerous/217e4e76-cd89-44fb-b22e-d37ffaef7f64" rel="" target="" title="Being trusting is no longer endearing. It's dangerous "><strong><span>Being trusting is no longer endearing. It's dangerous </span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dessau, a former AFL commissioner and magistrate, is a small woman with a gentle but commanding presence. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her comments will resonate strongly in the Jewish community, where many have been arguing along exactly these lines for a year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As governor, Dessau said "social cohesion" was part of her responsibility, and she had always argued that along with multiculturalism it was a "work in progress".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What we have seen in the last few years is just how very fragile that is," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dessau said it was acceptable to disagree with Israel's policies in Gaza but protesters should focus on the issues, not "play the man".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said what had unfolded in universities, with some sit-in protests and targeting of Jewish students, was "just unacceptable" and the universities "did not respond strongly enough".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also said politicians had a responsibility to do more.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But leadership goes throughout the community and it's not only people directly affected by antisemitism who should be responding," she said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"People right across the community should be responding as they did when the muslim community was facing discrimination, or the Chinese community, or the Indian community, because it diminishes all of us when this type of hatred exists."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dessau praised the antisemitism action plan drawn up for the federal government by Jillian Segal but lamented the personal attacks she has faced since presenting it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That just shows what's going on in the community and why it needs to be stamped on."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dessau is now chair of the mental health charity beyond blue. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She replaced Julia Gillard in May 2023. She is also considered by some to be an outside chance to be the new chair of the AFL commission.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Something not on her impressive CV, but she coyly admitted, was when as a student she took to the streets as an anti-Vietnam protester.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said protest was a right, but carried with it responsibility not to promote hate speech and not to create division. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She particularly objects to people displaying swastikas, and to the chants "Death to the IDF" and "From the river to the sea".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Do we want people calling out death to any group in any protest?" she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need to call that for what it is, which is totally unacceptable.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We call out the hate speech and we prosecute people."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Neil Mitchell is a Nine podcaster. His podcast interviews are posted each Tuesday and commentary each Thursday. Recent guests have included accused dissident Cheng Lei, Anthony Albanese and golfer Ian Baker Finch.</span></em></div></div>