What’s New with Anti-Semitism?

In 2011, criticism of Israeli government domestic policy intensified in Australia with the emergence of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign here. The local BDS campaign was directed against Israeli-owned businesses in Australia such as Max Brenner Chocolate, as well as non-Israeli owned companies perceived to have any perceived connections to Israeli activities in the Occupied Territories. Critics of the BDS said the campaign went beyond criticism of Israeli government policy and amounted to a new form of anti-Semitism. In a CIS Round Table discussion on 1 December 2011, Paul Kelly, Philip Mendes, and Peter Kurti asked whether a new anti-Semitism is emerging in twenty-first century Australia.