Social cohesion at risk in Australia amid Gaza conflict

Fears that harmony is in danger as incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism rise

- Jonathan Pearlman

SYDNEY - In late 2023, Mr Simon Welsh, a public opinion researcher in Australia, began to notice a familiar pattern in the conversations his team conducted with focus groups across the country.

The groups of eight to 10 people of varying ages and backgrounds would without prompting - raise concerns about the Israel-Hamas war, even if they were supposed to be discussing topics like energy or education policy.

The overwhelming concern raised in these groups was that they did not want the tensions in the Middle East to play out in Australia or affect the country's social cohesion.

"The topic kept coming through in the background of what we were talking about," said Mr Welsh, director of research and reputation at research firm RedBridge Group.

"There is this sense that we don't have intercultural wars and tensions that other countries do, and we don't want those tensions and that disunity being imported into this country," he told The Sunday Times.

Mr Welsh said the main sentiment in these focus groups was an "empathetic concern" about the innocent victims on both sides of the conflict. But people then quickly express concern about Australia's social harmony and the need to ensure the country's Palestinian, Muslim and Jewish communities feel safe and secure.

"People in this country are just not that engaged in the politics of (the Gaza war)," he said. "They want the communities here to feel OK." But there are growing concerns in Australia that this highly valued sense of "social cohesion" is starting to fray amid a spike in reported incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Recent unlawful protests and acts of vandalism have added to the unease.