<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>339687</docID> <postdate>2025-03-05 16:27:15</postdate> <headline>Terror threat up as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia surge</headline> <body><p><img class=" wp-image-339688" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20240929167303036348-original-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="672" height="448" /></p> <caption>The Gaza war has intensified instability in the Middle East and fuelled hate crimes across the West. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Dominic Giannini</b> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Australians are at greater risk of lone-wolf terrorism, as the war in Gaza fuels a surge in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia around the world.</strong></p> <p>The risk of a terrorist attack on home soil has increased, according the annual Global Terrorism Index.</p> <p>Australia dropped 13 places to rank 46th, while New Zealand improved to 94th.</p> <p>The lower the ranking, the greater the threat.</p> <p>The slip means Australia has become one-of-seven Western countries to rank in the bottom 50 alongside Canada, Germany, France, Britain and the United States.</p> <p>There were five terrorist attacks and seven injuries in Australia in 2024, up from zero in 2023, while the number of terrorist attacks worldwide increased from 58 to 66.</p> <p>The five incidents included the stabbing of a bishop and priest in an Assyrian Church, a teenager stopped by police in Newcastle with tactical gear and a camera to livestream the attempted attack, and the Addass Synagogue arson.</p> <p>They also included a knife attack in Perth where the perpetrator made jihadist references to police beforehand and a separate stabbing in Sydney where law enforcement indicated the teen was "self-radicalised" online.</p> <p><a href="https://www.oni.gov.au/news/asio-annual-threat-assessment-2025">Australia's greatest threat was from a lone actor with an easily obtained weapon</a>, ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said, adding almost all terrorist matters investigated in 2024 involved minors.</p> <p>All were lone actors or small groups and almost all were unknown to ASIO or police beforehand, which meant they had moved towards violence more quickly than before, he said.</p> <p>Those acting by themselves were three times more likely to succeed than people who acted with a second person or small group, according to the index.</p> <p>Lone-wolf attacks are the deadliest incidents in the West, accounting for more than nine-in-ten fatal attacks in the past five years.</p> <p>"Social tensions and dissatisfaction within the West are fuelling lone-actor terrorism," Institute for Economics and Peace executive chairman Steve Killelea said.</p> <p>"The best way to control terrorism is to stop or reduce the number of conflicts. In addition, the Gaza conflict has been, and still is, a catalyst for anti-Semitism and Islamophobia."</p> <p>Islamic State remained the deadliest group as it operated in 22 countries and killed 1805 people.</p> <p>Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia surged globally, with the index reinforcing warnings from Australia's spy chief.</p> <p>The war in Gaza intensified instability in the Middle East and fuelled hate crimes across the West, the index found.</p> <p>While the war was stirring intolerance and exacerbating social division in Australia, no terror incidents were directly linked to the conflict, Mr Burgess said.</p> <p>Artificial intelligence and encrypted communications that were harder for law enforcement to crack were boosting the recruitment and resilience of terror groups, the index found.</p> <p>But AI also created opportunities for intelligence organisations by making it easier to comb through more data faster and detect radicalisation earlier, it said.</p> </body>