Neo-Nazis led the March for Australia. Where's the Antisemitism Envoy?
Activists attacked during Sunday's marches say political leaders and Zionist bodies aren't taking white supremacist threat seriously
Representatives of the Camp Sovereignty protest site and anti-Zionist Jewish organisations have hit out at state and federal politicians, the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism and Zionist groups for failing to adequately respond to the threat of white supremacist extremism in the wake of the March for Australia rallies.
“Camp Sovereignty notes the silence of powerful Zionist organisations and so-called ‘envoys’ with no surprise,” a Camp Sovereignty representative told Deepcut. “Their selective outrage is strategic. When Blak sovereignty was physically attacked on stolen land — land already soaked with the violence of colonisation — they had nothing to say.”
The muted response from most Australian Zionist bodies stands in stark contrast to the outspoken stances taken by anti-Zionist and anti-fascist Jewish groups. The Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), Jews Against Fascism and the Loud Jew Collective have all published extensive statements warning that the rallies were being led and organised by neo-Nazis and expressing solidarity with First Nations people.
"We are not surprised – but we are angered – that Jewish organisations across this country have failed to take a clear stance against these fascists," the Loud Jew Collective statement reads.
"We know that these organisations, due to their Zionism, will never truly oppose white supremacy. They are too invested in it. And so across these days they again demonstrate that they bring harm rather than anything positive."
Prominent Zionist groups stay silent
Sunday's March for Australia rallies were attended and, in some cases, led and organised by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups like the National Socialist Network (NSN) and White Australia. Far-right influencer Hugo Lennon was involved in the planning of the Perth rally, while NSN leader Thomas Sewell and White Australia NSW chapter leader Jack Eltis addressed rallies in Melbourne and Sydney.
Neo-Nazi and white supremacist blocs at the rallies led chants such as "heil Australia", "send them back", "deport" and "am I ever going to see your race again? No way, get fucked, fuck off". March for Australia Sydney organiser 'Bec Freedom' has spoken openly about the aim of the rallies being to indoctrinate people into joining the fight to "protect white heritage", and of the need for violence.
Sewell was arrested on Tuesday in connection with an alleged violent attack on Camp Sovereignty, a sacred First Nations burial site and protest encampment at King's Domain, which left two people hospitalised. Footage of the attack clearly shows people dressed in black throwing punches and projectiles at Camp Sovereignty activists and chanting racist slogans.
Nearly a week on from the rallies that brought neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups out in force around the country, three prominent Zionist Jewish organisations – the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the Zionist Council of Victoria – have not made any public comment about the rallies or the Camp Sovereignty attack on their websites or social media platforms.
None of the three organisations responded to questions from Deepcut in time for publication.
The Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has also made no public comment on the rallies or the Camp Sovereignty attack and did not respond to questions from Deepcut. The Special Envoy's office has published just two media releases on its website since the office's establishment in July 2024, one of which was announcing the establishment of the office itself. The 'Latest News' section of the website has not published an update since November 30, 2024.
Daany Saeed, media reporter at independent outlet Crikey, wrote on Monday that he also had put questions to the Special Envoy's office and was "yet to hear back".
“This silence speaks volumes,” Camp Sovereignty told Deepcut.
“It reveals what we have always known: their concern is not with universal justice or safety, but with defending a political project of settler-colonialism — both here and in Palestine.”
Zionist Federation: March attendees were 'mainstream Australians'
Other Zionist organisations have described attendees of Sunday's anti-immigration rallies as "mainstream Australians" and compared the rallies to the ongoing protests opposing the genocide in Gaza.
In a statement published on Instagram and Facebook – but not on ECAJ's website – ECAJ president Daniel Aghion described March for Australia attendees as "mainstream Australians" and compared the rallies to the nationwide protests in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.
"The organisers who allowed known neo-Nazis to address the protest were either naïve or reckless, or else harbour a racist agenda of their own," Aghion said in the statement.
"In the same way as naïve protesters against the war in Gaza have been used by extremists displaying the flags of terror groups and a picture of the dictator of Iran, mainstream Australians who participated in the anti-immigration protest have been used by neo-Nazis and others with an abhorrent ulterior agenda."
The Zionist Federation of Australia also compared the March for Australia rallies with pro-Palestine protests.
"Being Jewish in Australia today means facing hate from all sides – from neo-Nazi marches to anti-Israel rallies steeped in antisemitism," the ZFA said in a brief statement on Instagram and Facebook.
"Extremists act with impunity, and violence is spilling onto our streets, putting Australia on a dangerous path. Free speech can never be a cover for hate or incitement. It is time to draw the line and reject extremism in all its forms."
Camp Sovereignty said it was “no surprise that neither organisation has condemned the racist attacks on a First Nations community space, because to do so would draw attention to the hypocrisy of supporting settler-colonialism abroad.”
“Comparing the two rallies – pro-Palestinian and anti-immigration – is not based in any reality. On the one hand, you have rallies calling for the end of the genocide and settler-colonial occupation of a nation, and on the other hand you have rallies calling for the emboldening and empowering of a settler colony and the exclusion of non-white people,” the Camp Sovereignty representative added.
“Zionist institutions and the Australian state operate from the same colonial logic: erase Indigenous sovereignty, criminalise resistance, and monopolise narratives of victimhood.”
Albanese calls marchers ‘good people’
The response to the marches from political leaders has been similarly muted. Speaking to the ABC on Monday, the prime minister tempered his criticism of the "neo-Nazis being given a platform" at the rallies with qualifications about "good people [who] will turn up to demonstrate their views".
"The tone of course of much of the rallies was – unfortunate is the best way that you could put it, but hateful in some of the extreme examples," Anthony Albanese said.
"I have no doubt that there would have been good people who went along [to the rallies]".
“When Anthony Albanese describes attendees at far-right March for Australia rallies as 'good people', it exposes exactly where the state stands,” Camp Sovereignty told Deepcut.
“The prime minister is willing to extend compassion and legitimacy to white nationalists — people marching to uphold racism — while in the same breath he weaponises incidents of property damage to manufacture a so-called 'crisis of antisemitism'.
“This is the double standard of the settler colony,” the Camp representative added. “Violence against First Nations people, desecration of a sacred burial ground, and the open organising of fascists are downplayed or ignored.”
Albanese’s characterisation of the marchers as “good people” has also drawn criticism from members of his government. Backbencher Mary Doyle asked Albanese to clarify his statement at a Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday.
Former Labor minister Ed Husic criticised Albanese’s description of the marchers on Wednesday, telling the ABC: “I haven’t seen a good fascist yet.”
“I’m not in the business of doing the ‘good people on both sides’ argument,” Husic said. “Those rallies were whipped up by far-right extremists and neo-Nazis. A lot of people were warned about that.”
Albanese was far more strident in his denunciation of two July protests connected with the Palestinian solidarity movement – an action at Miznon restaurant in Melbourne's CBD and the vandalism of three cars outside Melbourne-based arms manufacturer Lovitt Technologies.
In a statement at the time, Albanese described the two protests as "attacks", conflating them with an antisemitic arson attack against the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. Albanese also pledged to support a Victoria Police investigation into the protests with Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation resources.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, announced a new 'anti-hate' taskforce in the wake of the three incidents, flagging that the Victorian government would consider increasing police powers to enforce anti-vilification laws. While Victorian Zionist organisations were invited to participate in the taskforce, anti-Zionist Jewish groups like the JCA raised concerns about being excluded.
Minns silent on train attack
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, was similarly vocal in August after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation alleged that the Iranian government was behind an antisemitic attack on a Sydney restaurant in October.
However, Minns has made no public comment on the racial abuse endured by two Palestinian brothers on a Sydney train on the afternoon following the March for Australia rally.
Shamikh and Majed Badra were assaulted and verbally abused on a train on Sunday afternoon by a group of men they believe attended the rally. The men directed racial slurs at the pair, one of whom was wearing a keffiyeh, saying “If you want to fight for Palestine, go back there” and “Get the fuck out of here. We don’t want you in our country.”
The NSW Greens justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said Minns’ silence on the train attack was “a sign that Minns and all political leaders are failing to prevent the rise of neo-Nazism in NSW”.
“I am really concerned about Minns’ lack of leadership on the terrifying rupture of neo-Nazis and racism in our community,” Higginson said on Tuesday.
“Minns has led the way in demonising the community when they speak out against the Israeli military, but he took a hands-off approach when literal Nazis organised a hate event in the heart of Sydney.”
In the wake of the rallies and the Camp Sovereignty attack, Albanese, Minns and Allan have not flagged any new measures to combat neo-Nazism or protect First Nations people or Palestinians from racist violence – a stance Camp Sovereignty said “draws attention to the hypocrisy at play here”.
“If it had been First Nations people, or black/brown migrants, or Muslims who had attacked a White or Jewish site in the same manner, desecrating what is sacred and assaulting people with weapons, both the State and Federal Governments would have already come forward to announce new measures with full bipartisan support,” the Camp representative said.
“But because it was the other way around, they won’t, instead preferring to continue the legacy of Australian settler-colonialism and the everyday terrorism that it enacts against First Nations people.”
When the Indigenous are attacked, the Zionist voice is also absent. Sad, really. Historically, in some districts, people who were ethnically Jewish were regarded as sweet Jews by local Indigenous people.