The Courier, 30 June 2026

Witnesses targeted in offensive online posts

By Lucinda Garbutt-Young

From The Courier

Witnesses giving evidence to the anti-Semitism royal commission have endured violent threats - including calls for gassing - as social media monitoring struggles to keep up.

An online comment suggesting disused oil refineries be repurposed as "makeshift concentration camps" had been reported several times over the past week but still remained live, Dor Foundation chief executive Tahli Blicblau told the inquiry on Tuesday.

She detailed dozens of times witnesses were targeted with sexually degrading abuse, often incorporating anti-Semitic slurs.

"Where do you live so I can firebomb your car? You Jewish whore," read another comment about a woman who had posted about her royal commission submission in May.

Commissioner Virginia Bell intervened at the time after witnesses from a first public hearing block were targeted, warning any intimidation attempts would be prosecuted.

A northern NSW-based neo-Nazi was later charged for allegedly sending intimidating emails to one witness.

Read the full article online at The Courier