In the aftermath of the Bondi massacre, I spoke to NBC News in the US:
Antony Loewenstein, a journalist and author who serves on the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia, a progressive group that advocates for “Palestinian freedom,” said: “I think they’re an absolute abomination.”
“They are rushed, not thought through, and they’re arguably unconstitutional,” he said, adding that he thought they would be challenged in court.
Three activist groups representing those in support of Palestine and Indigenous Australians have said they’ll challenge the proposed laws in Australia’s high court.
Loewenstein also disputed Ryvchin’s claim that pro-Palestinian marches in Australia, some of the largest of which have taken place in Sydney, had incited violence against the Jewish community.
Australia is home to many “progressive Jews who are deeply against Israel’s mass slaughtering in Gaza” and oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Lowenstein said.
“The truth of the matter is that there is literally no connection that we are aware of between the murderers, these two men, father and son, and the pro-Palestine movement. Zero,” he said. “We are worried and scared, of course, by the direct targeting of Jews but also deeply concerned that our fears are being weaponized in the service of deeply antidemocratic and draconian policies,” he added.