Federal Court Judge Michael Lee has spoken publicly about the latest wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Sydney, calling them attacks on his family in a powerful speech.
Judge Lee gave a speech at the Jewish House gala dinner on Thursday night, hours after a car was set on fire and buildings were vandalized with shocking anti-Israel insults across Woollahra in the city’s east.
The judge said Australian society must address the “growth and mainstreaming” of anti-Semitic acts since the October 7, 2023, massacres in Israel. In an impassioned speech, he said any attack on the Jewish community is an “attack on my wife and my children.”
Judge Lee attracted national headlines in April because, on a balance of probabilities, Bruce Lehrmann had raped his former colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament in 2019.
Penny, the judge’s wife, is the daughter of prominent Jewish lawyer David Landa, and her children are Jewish.
In comments first reported by The AustralianJudge Lee told attendees that he was struck by a “disturbing” reality after Hamas invaded southern Israel, in published remarks. .
‘The revelation for (my wife and I) since October 7 is that, in our different ways and from our different perspectives, the stark and uncomfortable realization that despite living our entire lives in this country and thinking we knew it so well, “Now we don’t recognize one aspect of it,” he said.
Federal Court Judge Michael Lee (pictured) spoke Thursday night about the enormous toll anti-Semitic attacks have taken on him personally.
He was speaking at the Jewish House gala dinner, the night after cars were set alight and vandalized with shocking anti-Semitic abuse in Woollahra.
‘Related to this was the realization that some people we thought we knew well did not understand, or did not want to understand, a more complex narrative than that presented by simplistic and historically flawed declamations on social media and other media.
“They also showed no empathy for the trauma caused by the events of last year and their consequences.”
Judge Lee said he was not sure whether the realization that surprised him and his wife was a case of ‘scales falling from our eyes or a profound change in culture,” according to The Australian.
“But when we think about it, it does matter, because we must address the growth and pervasiveness of anti-Semitism that we have all seen emerge in the last 13 months,” he said.
“But understanding how to address it requires some understanding of how we got to where we are.”
He told the dinner that he had been He learned about the richness of Jewish life through his wife’s family and spoke about a change in culture in Australia, including at school, where students go to “proclaim, rather than learn”.
At least one car was set on fire while others were vandalized with shocking anti-Israel insults in Woollahra.
Firefighters responded to reports of car fire in eastern Sydney
Judge Lee’s speech came after celebrity chef Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant in Woollahra, in Sydney’s east, was vandalized with anti-Israel slurs on Wednesday night.
Several cars were also vandalized, one of which was set on fire, and Fire and Rescue NSW attended the scene about 12.35am on Thursday. Several cars were covered in white spray paint that said “F**k Israel.”
The cars were parked on Wellington Street, Tara Street, Fullerton Street and Ocean Street. The door of a unit complex on Ocean Street was also painted with anti-Israel slogans.
Chiswick is co-owned by Mr Moran and Elliot Solomon, the Jewish chief executive of the Solotel Group.
The letters ‘PKK’ were also seen on several cars and on windows in Chiswick.
PKK could refer to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which some countries, including Australia, have designated a terrorist organization.