The Zionist movement is unable to handle criticism, naming anyone who criticises their efforts at narrative control “antisemitic”.
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) CEO Sacha Roytman has hit back at critics of the Australian mayors’ conference on the Gold Coast, writing an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post titled, “When Fighting Antisemitism Becomes Controversial, It’s Already Antisemitism”.
His article appeared shortly after more than 300,000 people attended protests across Australia on August 24 calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and sanctions on Israel.
Roytman, the former head of digital media for the Israel Defense Forces, claims that CAM’s success in attracting hundreds of mayors and councillors with its all-expenses-paid invitation has led to “the summit itself [becoming] the target of attacks, with critics scurrilously delegitimising what is essentially an anti-hate event”.
Thousands have signed letters to councillors and mayors urging them not to attend the summit, due to its far-right agenda and its links to companies and individuals that promote, fund or trade with Israel.
“It has now become abundantly clear that the campaign urging a boycott of the upcoming summit is not simply political activism — it is, in truth, antisemitism,” Roytman wrote. He clearly states that, for CAM, “anti-Zionism is antisemitism”.
Among CAM’s critics are the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), which stated: “In reality, it is a pro-Israel political junket designed to push a one-sided political agenda, silencing legitimate criticism of Israel by conflating it with antisemitism.”
The JCA urged anyone who had accepted an invitation without understanding this to pull out now.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens, has also called for local government representatives to boycott the summit.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on August 26 that the Iranian ambassador would be expelled after the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), working with foreign partners and international agencies, said it had “credible evidence” that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was the hidden organiser behind fires at a Naarm/Melbourne synagogue and restaurant in Gadigal Country/Sydney last December.
CAM seized the opportunity to link the mayors’ summit agenda to ASIO’s findings. It again complained about the “smear campaigns … delegitimising its core purpose”, which was to allow municipalities “the support they vitally need” to learn how to “counter Jew Hatred”.
“When arson attacks target Jewish synagogues and businesses, it is not a moment for hesitation — it is a time for action. The upcoming summit underscores an urgent truth: confronting antisemitism is not political — it is a public safety imperative.”
Shortly after publishing the article, Roytman issued a media release connecting Australia’s allegations against the IRGC with a broader “pattern of malign activity”. He called for “global intelligence services, and law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate the role of foreign subversive actors, especially the Iranian regime, in orchestrating and financing antisemitic violence and anti-Israel demonstrations across the globe”.
Palestine Action Group spokesperson Josh Lees said in response to the allegation about IRGC funding anti-Israel protests: “It’s a ludicrous suggestion without foundation and an insult to hundreds of organisers of small and big protests taking place around the world every day.”
CAM stated that the alleged actions of the IRGC are not just attacks on Jews, but on the “safety, sovereignty, and democratic integrity of nations worldwide”. “Every responsible leader and agency must immediately investigate, expose, and counter this threat,” said Roytman.
“CAM stands ready to work with governments, security agencies, and civil society partners to confront this emerging threat head-on.”
Despite widespread scepticism across Australia’s social media about Labor’s dramatic announcements, CAM neatly slotted them into its broader narrative of “Western civilisation against the forces of evil”.
This is the broad and ominous right-wing political agenda that CAM and many of its speakers, including those with a record of Islamophobia, will promote at its conference on September 3–5. Whether a protest or arson attack, according to CAM, it is all antisemitism.
At a local level, the take-home tools will include a “Municipalities Index” to monitor activity using CAM’s so-called “gold standard” International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
Providing cover for this agenda is the summit organising committee chair David Gonski. MichaelWest Media sent questions to Gonski, but received no response or acknowledgement from him.
[Wendy Bacon writes for Michael West Media, where this article was first published.]