What a time to be alive! Not only have we moved just that little bit closer to World War 3 than we have been since the Cuban Missile crisis of 1961 thanks to Vladimir Putin, but now anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish hatred have been all but normalised in our everyday public discourse, more so than at any time since at least 1938.

World number 5 tennis star and magnet for controversy Novak Djokovic has kicked off the Australian Open tennis tournament by sharing selfies with fans holding a flag of a paramilitary group that collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War 2.

Extremism experts have raised concerns about the presence of a child at a neo-Nazi event in Melbourne’s northwest, saying it indicates far-right groups are indoctrinating children with hateful ideology during vulnerable periods in their intellectual development.

Intentionally waving a Nazi flag in New South Wales or displaying memorabilia bearing swastikas can land a person in jail for up to a year, along with a fine of $11,000.

The realities of Palestinian nationalist collaboration with the Nazis were a matter of public knowledge and opprobrium around the world in the immediate postwar years.

Victoria is set to become the first Australian state or territory to ban the Nazi swastika, with a leading anti-hate campaigner describing the legislation introduced to state parliament as history-making.

According to his biography, Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin was born in Moscow on 7 January 1962. Known as a Russian philosopher, professor, political analyst and the main organizer of the National Bolshevik Front and a leading member of Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party.

The following portraits are of many (but not all) of the leaders of this motley crew of suburban would-be ‘revolutionaries’, some of whom are scary to say the least. Others though, are simply just clowns looking for a circus. 

In a letter to a Bosniak Islamic scholar cited in the Bosnian-language media Wednesday, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier linked the reversal to Greif’s position as head of a commission that minimized the death toll of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which around 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were murdered by Serb nationalist forces.

Moments like these connect anti-vax movements to far right and white supremacist extremist groups and conspiracy communities in Europe and white settler nations around the world including Australia, Canada, USA and New Zealand.

The increased prominence of anti-Semitic incidents may have you wondering: has anti-Semitism always been part of the Australian social fabric, or are we facing a newer, more sinister trend?

In an unassuming semi-industrial complex in an outer suburb of an Australian city, you might hear the blast of heavy metal music and the grunts of a small group of men as they work out and practice martial arts. 

Developments in the small Balkan state of Montenegro are a signifier of creeping fascism across the wider region, orchestrated by the pro-Putin Vučić regime in Belgrade but largely ignored by European governments.

While some of the responses to my now-deleted article that were printed by the J-Post contained outright lies and not worthy of a response – the statement by Dr. Robert Rozett, Senior Historian from Yad Vashem, dated 25 August – see here - deserves a clear and robust rebuttal.