Antisemitic sentiment has risen globally since the war in Gaza began, including in our part of the world.

A man has been charged after a Melbourne synagogue was set alight last Friday. The alleged antisemitic attack has seen the country’s Home Affairs Minister describe it as an “attack on Australia”.

The attack’s prompted the country’s Labor party to push for reforming the school curriculum to tech children about antisemitism.

But, these kind of anti-Jewish attitudes aren’t reserved for our trans-Tasman neighbours.

An NZ Jewish Council report last year found in the 12 months from October 7 2023, there were 227 recorded antisemitic incidents, a jump from 166 in the eight and a half years prior.

So, how has the Gaza conflict exacerbated these tensions? And how can the Jewish faith be separated from the actions of the state of Israel?

Today on The Front Page, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chair Deborah Hart joins us to discuss the rise of antisemitism here, and how we might be able to combat it.

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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Ethan Sills

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