AUSSIE ARTISTS BANNED FROM PERFORMING JUST FOR BEING JEWISH

[Rebbetzin]

Hi everyone,

The destructive antisemitism that has sprung up since that horrible day of October 7th, 2023 has ricocheted around the world affecting everyone who is Jewish, whether they are born in Israel or Bullamakanka (an old Aussie term for the far reaches of the country).  Australian artists, musicians, actors, speakers and many others are all being singled out as being too hot to touch.

In Australia we are currently undertaking a Royal Commission into antisemitism, a commission our Communist leaders did not want to undertake and had to be bullied from every angle to finally agree to it. Most Jews in Australia will tell you that our Prime Minister did not rise to the occasion to condemn the violence sprouting in every state, but instead chose to ignore it. His love of the Fakestinians and let’s face it, the Muslim vote outways his concern for other people in his country, namely anyone Jewish. I cannot forget the loud boos and jeers he was given when he waltzed into the area adjacent to the Bondi Pavilion to lay a paltry bunch of flowers near the site of the worst terrorist attack in our history an attack he could have averted if he’d listened, heeded the warnings not only from the Jewish people, but from our own Federal Police and Australia’s security intelligence agency ASIO. He did nothing to address these concerns and then on a beautiful summer evening in December 2025 all hell broke loose at a peaceful Hannukah festival at the iconic Bondi Beach an area where many Jewish Sydney siders have lived for generations. This arrogant Prime Minister has become the most hated Prime Minister this country has ever known.

There have been many people who have given evidence and examples of the antisemitism they have experienced to the Royal Commission and it is quite damning, to say the least. Here is just one account of a musician and conductor who has experience this age old hatred for himself.


“‘Anti-Zionism’ Label Used to Foment Hate and Threats, Musician Contends

“Ben Adler told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that anti-Zionism was not criticism of Israel but was instead ‘Jew hate.’

“Australian conductor Ben Adler says the label “anti-Zionism” is being used as an excuse to target Jewish Australians, forcing performers to weigh up whether to publicly identifying as Jewish.

“Adler is the musical curator at the Emanuel Synagogue, a member of the Nomad String Quartet, and founder of the klezmer fusion band Chutney. He also performs with another group, Shir. Both play Jewish music.

“He shared his experiences of anti-Semitism during the Royal Commission on Antisemistism and Social Cohesion, which is probing the potential causes that led to the Bondi Beach terror massacre that claimed the lives of 15 Australians and injured 40.

““The rhetoric of anti-Zionism with the extraordinary hyperbolic lies, [the] libels told ... I’ve engaged many times with these people, they end up just coming back down to, ‘Well, 1948 was a mistake, and Israel should never be made at all,’” Adler told the commission, pointing to the often-cited argument against the existence of the Israeli state.

““The point is, anti-Zionism, at its core, is an eradicationist, eliminationist movement that seeks the removal of Israel, either by force or by the creation of a single state, which means that Jews cannot be a majority in their own country anymore, [and] repatriation that sends 7 million Palestinians to a tiny country the size of a third of Tasmania.”

“Adler said that since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, the climate for Jewish performers had changed.

““There have been significant and successive experiences I’ve had in the past two and a half years, which have made me feel highly unwelcome in Australia,” he told the commission.

““I know I’m Australian because I am Australian, but it doesn’t sit particularly easily anymore,” he said.

“Making Sure Gigs Can Actually Go Ahead

“Jewish artists now faced barriers that non-Jewish artists did not, he contended.

“My experience has been that, without exaggeration, the majority of my efforts have not been to practice my part, or to touch the violin, or to organise musical arrangements, or to liaise with artists to find rehearsal times,” Adler said.

““Most of my efforts have been to ensure that we can do the gig, because there’s so many forces that seem to always erupt quite quickly once news has emerged that we’re doing a gig ... that seem quite intent to cancel that gig,” he explained.

“Chutney was due to perform a few days after the Hamas attacks, and the organisers of the event initially cancelled.

“After extensive negotiations, Adler had the performance restored. He then posted a redacted copy of the letter he'd sent to a WhatsApp group of Jewish performers—one he said discussed only music and art, not politics.

“But someone from outside the group got hold of a copy of the letter and “doxxed” the group of 600 creatives and academics in early 2024—meaning it was leaked to the wider online community—which led to an outpouring of anti-Zionism and harassment.

““Anti-Zionism operates functionally as Jew hate, as a movement that hurts Jews, because the contention of the doxxer was that my advocacy was illegitimate and should be decried and denounced publicly, [that I should be] doxxed because I’m a Zionist, or somehow I was admitting to being a propagandist for the Zionist regime

““And that’s the way in which the label ‘Zionist’ is used as a slur these days; it is mobilised and manifests as a means of silencing Jews in Australia,” Adler said, pointing out that the Bondi killers had posted a video denouncing Zionism.

“For his bands and orchestra, that meant always considering whether to mention the fact they were Jewish.

“Concerned about one social media post in September 2025, which threatened to throw a Molotov cocktail during a performance, Adler reported it to Victoria Police.

“Since then, he or his colleagues had followed up on the complaint at least 15 times, but no action had been taken.

““In January, we were told that they have to check with Facebook to see who posted it, and that it might take a year, even though we had that information after about three days of minimal sleuthing,” Adler related.

“He had since reported the comment to the Australian Federal Police.

““I explained the situation, and I also mentioned that someone I knew had been killed in Bondi, and I was reflecting on what could have been if a Molotov cocktail had actually proved real for 1,000 Jews lining up on Collins Street in Melbourne.
“Hatred erupts the moment a Jew dares to surface publicly. If every time that someone’s sensitivities may be offended by the presence of public Jewish art, the Jewish art is canceled, the logical extension of that position is the erasure of Jewish cultural presence from Australia.””

“Rex Widerstrom
“Author

“Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.”

This article was first published by the Epoch Times.

Love and Shalom,

Rebbetzin Glenys xo