John Law (14:35)
Alright, first up, let's start with some agreement. Commentators on the left and right condemn the shooting and view it as clearly motivated by antisemitism. Many also say Australia's leaders must do a better job of addressing rising hatred toward Jews. Alright, let's move on to what the left is saying. Many on the left highlight the ongoing devastation caused by gun violence around the world. Others say political leaders and ordinary people must play a role in addressing the root causes of these attacks. In cnn, Stephen Collinson wrote, two mass shootings, many time zones apart, shatter communities and expose fraught politics. At Brown, two students were killed and nine others were injured. At least 15 people died at Bondi beach and more than three dozen remain in the hospital. Collinson said there's little circumstantially linking the outrages. Both featured the now routine rituals of mass shootings, including jerky cell phone footage of people fleeing for their lives. And two communities were left shattered by the same incomprehensible reality of death that came suddenly for people gunned down as they went about their daily life. In 20th century Europe, the legacy of two world wars that killed millions of people was palpable. It was hard to believe antisemitism would again become a global scourge. But as the last survivors of Nazi death camps fade away, history's lessons are being forgotten, collinson wrote. The Australia attack will renew huge scrutiny of the huge global demonstrations in solidarity with tens of thousand of Palestinians in Gaza killed during Israel's onslaught against Hamas. The chant globalize the intifada has come to epitomize more radical aspects of the pro Palestinian movement. The latest anti Semitic attack underscores why some Jewish people interpret it as a threat. In the foreword, Dan Perry offered three responses to the Bandai Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer. Anti Semitic attacks have increased across the Western world, and the way that the Gaza war unfolded has only accelerated the trends. The narrative of genocide has become increasingly entrenched, making it harder for Jews to occupy the once unquestioned moral space. I still defend Israel and should not be attacked for it, perry wrote. So what can be done? First, Jewish communities must assume that the maximal security at every event, and certainly on holidays and around landmarks, is essentially not optional. Second, political leadership matters. World leaders must speak clearly and forcefully against anti Semitic violence. Silence or hedging is read as permission. Muslim leaders in particular should speak plainly. Condemning attacks on Jews is not an endorsement of Israel nor a betrayal of Palestinian suffering, perry said. Finally, Israel itself must confront its role. The current government has become a strategic liability not just for Israel's security, but for Jews worldwide. Its policies, tone and posture have helped create the conditions in which anti Semitism flourishes abroad. Alright, that is it for what the left is saying. Which brings us to what the right is saying. The right says that Australia's leaders have failed to heed the increasing prevalence of anti Semitism in the country. Some link the attack to anti Israel rhetoric that has taken hold globally since October 7th. The New York Post editorial board argued Australia's government failed its Jews in the long run up to the Bondi beach attack. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese failed to heed multiple warnings about the rising tide of hate, including from human rights lawyer Arsene Ostrovsky, himself wounded Sunday, who spoke out December 1st after graffiti reading F Zionist, Israel and Israel has blood on their hands appeared on Bondi beach overnight, the board wrote. And Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu wrote Albanese months ago, thundering that his call to recognize a Palestinian state pours fuel on the anti Semitic fire and emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking, stalking your streets. That hate has been growing ever worse since Hamas's October 7, 2023 atrocities. Antisemitic graffiti has grown common as well as attacks on Jewish owned shops. A group of nurses made global headlines for cutting a video where they announced that they wouldn't treat Jews. In the year Leading up to September 30, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry counted 2,062 anti Semitic incidents across the country, the board said. In August, Albanese blamed Iran for the Melbourne synagogue burning and an attack on a Sydney kosher restaurant and expelled Tehran's ambassador and three other diplomats. But Albanese the next month chose to pander to his domestic Jew haters joining a pack of left wing leaders of Western governments in announcing recognition of a Palestinian state. In the free press, Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote, the intifada comes to Australia. Families were gathered in joy when men with guns got out of their car and began firing. The violence arrived with speed and cruelty, and though the scale differs, the pattern is unmistakable. It mirrors October 7th in Israel, a holiday, a crowd, daylight attackers who targeted the most vulnerable and knew precisely what they were doing, Ali said. This way of killing has been studied, praised and spread for years. It appears in pamphlets, videos and online posts. It is celebrated in slogans, shouted at marches and emblazoned on placards. It is excused as rage, sanitized as politics. The Bandai beach atrocity was horrific, but it wasn't unforeseen. It was the result of long indulgence. It was tolerated into being. Ideas matter because they shape what people come to accept, especially when they are repeated unchallenged, Ali wrote. When crowds call for intifada, they are calling for the most brutal form of violence, when Jewish symbols are burned and Jews singled out as symbols of evil. This is not dissent and certainly not resistance, but preparation. It is a rehearsal for what follows. Alright, that is it for what the left and the right are saying. Which brings us to what Australian writers are saying. Many Australian writers view the attack as a consequence of unchecked antisemitism in the country. Others call on Australians to reject the hate that motivated the shooting. The Australian editorial board said the Bandai attack has changed our nation. It was the Australian Jewish community's worst nightmare, happening in their heartland at sunset, with bodies strewn on the ground as paramedics worked frantically to save lives. The area was crowded with dozens and dozens of ambulances and police cars. Nearby businesses were locked down. The scene was so unlike the Bondi so many of us know so well. It seemed like something from a foreign place, the board wrote. The timing was telling and cowardly. It was the first night of Hanukkah, from the Hebrew word for dedication, the commemoration of the dedication of the second Temple. Hanukkah also celebrates the resilience, survival and the enduring strength of Jewish identity in Australia. The signs of antisemitism have been ominous for a long time. It began in the Sydney Opera House forecourt two nights after the October 7th attack. It should have been nipped in the bud then. The ineptitude of officialdom set a pattern for appalling scenes to come. For more than two years, the unbridled rise of antisemitism ran largely unchecked, the board said the ramifications of Sunday's events will be felt by the local Jewish community for years. These attacks will also change the nation. Like the Port Arthur attack of 1996, some people left Bondi on Sunday night to go home to light their Hanukkah candles. The spirit of hope over despair will endure. In the Guardian, George Newhouse, the former mayor of Waverly Council in Sydney, wrote, all Australians must support the right of Jews to live without fear. Over the years in my official role, I attended many Hanukkah ceremonies. They were always occasions of light, joy and belonging. That is why these murders have been so shocking to the peace loving citizens of Bondi and especially to the Jewish community, Neuhaus said. We are a small community. I know some of those who were murdered and injured. This is not an abstract tragedy for us. It is profoundly personal. My heart breaks for the victims, their loved ones, and for all those who experience the trauma of this act of terrorism. At the same time, I am in awe of the extraordinary heroism of those who stepped forward at great personal risk to defend innocent congregants and bystanders. What compounds the grief is fear. In recent years, Jewish people in Australia have felt threatened, dismissed, alienated and at times openly vilified. There is a temptation to explain away or qualify this as by reference to political differences or debates about events in the Middle east. But that misses the point. Every Jew is not responsible for every decision made by the Israeli government. The right to live free from fear in Australia should not depend on a person's politics, their views on the Middle east or their religion, Newhouse wrote. This is not a demand for special treatment. It is a call for basic decency, equal concern and the simple acknowledgment that Jewish Australians are entitled to live without fear. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take.
