Zionist Federation of Australia CEO Alon Cassuto has resolved the Federal Court proceeding he brought against Mary Kostakidis under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
The proceeding concerned two social media posts republishing a speech by then-Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of an organisation proscribed in its entirety as a terrorist organisation by the Australian Government, which Mr Cassuto maintained amounted to a call to ethnically cleanse Jews and Israelis “from the river to the sea”.
“An important reason I brought this matter was to seek recognition of the harm these posts caused ordinary Jewish Australians,” Mr Cassuto said.
“Following the conciliation process, Ms Kostakidis issued a public apology acknowledging the hurt caused by her posts. Public figures should be accountable for the consequences of amplifying the rhetoric of a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
The apology did not, however, mark a change in the character of Ms Kostakidis’ public commentary.
Since then, she has continued to amplify material describing reports of sexual violence on 7 October as a “rape hoax”; alleging that a firebombing of Jewish volunteer ambulances was an Israeli “false flag” operation; describing Chabad as a “Jewish supremacist network” with historical Nazi links; and claiming that a “billionaire class of Zionist supremacists” uses money to control and corrupt American institutions.
In March this year, only weeks after Iranian security forces had massacred thousands of their own citizens protesting against the regime, she reposted a message declaring: “I’m barracking for Iran. I’m barracking for Hezbollah. I’m barracking for the Houthis. I’m barracking for Hamas. I’m barracking for ANY AND ALL RESISTANCE.”
“Ms Kostakidis had a long career in mainstream journalism. Her more recent social media output is of a very different character. People can make their own judgment about what it says about the direction her public commentary has taken.”
“My objectives in bringing this proceeding have been substantially satisfied. Ms Kostakidis has publicly apologised for the hurt caused by her posts and has now seen the evidence of Jewish Australians who were prepared to come to Court and explain why her conduct mattered.”
“Given everything Ms Kostakidis has chosen to publish since her apology, a further apology compelled by a Court would ring hollow.”
“The issues that motivated me to bring this proceeding are being examined in the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The Commissioner’s report will be handed down in December following a national examination of how antisemitism became so normalised in Australia, the role of public figures and institutions in spreading and amplifying it, and whether our laws and institutions have been adequate to confront it. Bondi demonstrated, in the most devastating way, why those questions matter.”
“Rosh Hashanah begins tonight. In the Jewish tradition, it is the Day of Judgment – a time to account for our conduct, the harm we have caused, and whether expressions of regret are matched by what we choose to do next.”
“Ms Kostakidis can make her own accounting of her conduct. The Australian public can make theirs.”
“I do not intend to spend another year taking Ms Kostakidis’ repugnant commentary from the dark corners of the internet and giving it a Federal Court platform in her pursuit of martyrdom. My job here is done.”