On Sydney's North Shore, where unchecked development is steadily defacing a genteel precinct, it's not the proliferation of nondescript high rises or the disappearance of federation homes stirring controversy. Rather, it's a clutch of standard-issue utility poles and interconnecting strands of wire piquing the interest of journalists and politicians alike, and catalysing the prejudices that lurk within this superficially harmonious community.
The dissent resulted from the proposed construction of an eruv, a symbolic wall that would envelop most of the suburb of St Ives, home to around 3000 Jews, many of whom share South African heritage. Eighty-five per cent of the eruv exists already in the form of utility poles; 11 residents have given consent for additional poles to be constructed on their land.
Common to cities such as Washington DC, London, Paris, Johannesburg and Sydney's own Bondi, the eruv's presence enables observant Jews to leave their homes and undertake activities otherwise forbidden outside of the home on the Shabbat and holy days: the pushing of prams, the use of walking sticks, the carrying of children.
The media blew the dog whistle at once with provocative headlines such as 'Jews seek religious freedom with a ring around St Ives' in the Sydney Morning Herald and 'Renewed Jewish push for St Ives "enclosure"' in the North Shore Times. The headlines captured not just the essence of a local news story, but the deep fears of a broader society whose much-vaunted religious and cultural tolerance is not necessarily observed in practice.
The more rational objections were aired by people fearful of the change an eruv might bring to St Ives' leafy skyline. With the battle against big developers already lost, residents are wary of further threats to their rapidly changing streetscapes.
'We're going towards undergrounding wiring [and] having less posts and poles ... [H]ere we are getting a proliferation of poles and wiring when it's totally unnecessary for the wider community and just convenient to a small fraction of the population,' said Christiane Berlioz, President of the St Ives Progress Association.
The proposal also drew the ire of atheists who, critical of the supposed irrationality of an eruv, labelled it an 'imaginary fence' and a 'piece of string' that adults believe will enable them to 'pick up keys on the Sabbath'.
Implicit in these comments is derision for all faith-based beliefs: the transformation of the Eucharist into Christ's body during a Catholic mass, the reincarnation of a Hindu after he or she has died.
But a libertarian country such as ours ensures a rich variety of religious expression, from the overabundant carols at Christmas time to the effusive Islamic calls-to-prayer to the knock-knocking of door-to-door evangelists.
Given that eruvs are inconspicuous, and religious freedom in Australia is a fait accompli, there can be only one explanation for the prevailing sentiment, and that is a subtle prejudice which represents the great big elephant in the room for anyone living on Sydney's North Shore.
It's an intolerance which sees Jews routinely characterised as loud and arrogant; where all residents of South African origin are regarded as Jewish until proven otherwise; where, in a particularly alarming development, a local shop is rumoured to be scrapping its kosher section in the hope of 'attracting more Australians'.
'The truth is that Jews believe they are chosen, and that they are better than everyone,' said a writer on a North Shore Times forum. 'Have they brought apartheid in their suitcases after it was exiled from South Africa?' asked a local resident in her objection to Ku-ring-gai Council.
In releasing its valves, this supposedly liberal community has given voice to an ugly form of discrimination, one that should have been nipped in the bud when Jews arrived in this country on the First Fleet. If the construction of an eruv was a litmus test for the strength of our society's pluralism, then the suburb of St Ives — or those jumping onto its bandwagon — would surely have failed it.
Despite the backlash, the Jewish community is confident that reason will prevail, says the CEO of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff. 'We are hopeful that with goodwill and understanding there will be a realisation that it's a positive step, because it allows people to carry out the requirements of the faith without impacting anyone.'
If the application now before council is denied, it will be a sad day indeed, not only for the Jewish community of St Ives, but for the whole of Australia: yet again, our country will have sacrificed one more wedge of the multiculturalism it loves to lay claim to.
Catherine Marshall is a South African-born journalist. She works for Jesuit Communications and lives in St Ives.