I mourn for all victims of terror and racism.
The number of people protesting against the genocide in Gaza could be described as a big wave.
But I wouldn’t call the rise of antisemitism in Australia a big enormous wave, as the right and far-right will have us believe. It is more like a ripple — albeit a deeply worrying one because it could rise into a tsunami if we do not untangle the conflation between Zionism and Judaism and make clear the distinction between the worldwide community of Jews and the State of Israel.
As for Islamophobia we see a king tide unleashed on our shores. To allow neo Nazis to demonstrate in front of the NSW Parliament House with not a word from Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, cannot be excused as an oversight.
When the March for Humanity across Sydney’s Harbour Bridge had to be upheld by the NSW High Court and Segal insinuated the peaceful march was “antisemitic”, claiming it featured terrorist flags, we must not be blind to dark currents that threaten to overwhelm us.
Then came the Bondi Beach attack, where two gunmen targeted a party from the Bondi Jewish community celebrating Chanuka. The first day of the Jewish Festival of Light instantly turned into a Day of Darkness, sending shockwaves around the world.
While condemnation of this gruesome attack and commiseration with the grieving community poured in, a surge of speculation and weaponisation quickly spread out.
Wanting to pay our respects to the victims and their loved ones, my friend and I set out to join the mourning ceremony the day after the attack. We are both anti-Zionist Jews. Since the Gaza genocide we have worn a keffiyeh, as well as a pendant of the Star of David. This shows we condemn Israel’s genocide that is being committed in the name of Jews.
We were shocked, but not surprised, to see the Israeli flag decorating the wall of Bondi Pavillion, and spread out in the area where the bouquets of mourning were laid.
Some mourners were wearing the Israeli flag and others were waving it. We realised this was not a place where anti-Zionists would be welcome. Indeed, we were met with great hostility.
When asked by the police to remove our keffiyehs, because they were “offensive to the mourners”, we pointed at the Israeli flags on display and explained how offensive they were.
We insisted that we were entitled to mourn the violent death of our fellow Jews in the Bondi community like anyone else.
I ventured away to take some pictures and, feeling the palpable hostility, took off my keffiyeh. My brave friend kept hers on. When I returned to her, the number of police around us had more than doubled.
We argued that we were not the aggressors to which the police said we should leave for our own protection. The crowd around us wanted us gone. Some had started chanting “Get them out!”
Eventually the two of us, who had come as mourners not as protesters, were escorted away under applause for the police and a rain of insults at us.
As my friend and I were separated by a cordon of police, MSM reporters asked why we were wearing the keffiyeh. Her answer was succinct: “Were there no Israeli flags here, we would not have worn a keffiyeh. Because this community has politicised this tragedy.”
She was taken to Bondi Beach police station and told not to set foot in Bondi again for the next six hours on pain of being arrested.
That evening, my friend and I attended the Sacred Healing Ceremony for the victims of the Bondi Beach massacre, organised by the Blak Caucus in Hyde Park.
There could not have been a greater contrast between the two ceremonies. First Nations people showed their profound wisdom — surviving their own genocide — that hatred does not get you anywhere and that love is the way.
The event was well attended by people of every colour and background. It began with a traditional cleansing ritual accompanied by song and dance, to segue into speeches by representatives of the Jewish, Muslim, Indigenous and LGBTIQ communities and concluded with more uplifting dance and music.
It was a true antidote to the divisiveness we had been subjected to that morning. I wish for a flood of that antidote in the times to come.
• • •
Statement by Jews Against the Occupation ’48, issued on December 17.]
All members of Jews Against the Occupation ’48 (JAO48) extend their deepest condolences to the victims and their loved ones of the violent attack in Bondi Beach yesterday. We condemn all violence based on race, faith or political persuasion, and urge the Australian community to refrain from any bigoted racist prejudice in response to this terrible attack.
There is extreme concern that this horrific event may be used for dangerous political agendas. We live in a time bearing witness to global manmade tragedy: genocides, massacres, famines and utter devastation committed against innocent peoples and nations. In this moment, the communities of the world must stand together against the powers and systems that promote and execute such terror.
Likewise, the multicultural communities of Australia are called upon to stand for a society without racism and bigotry, where everyone has the right to live in justice, peace and dignity. The bravery shown by Ahmed al-Ahmed, when he disarmed one of the gunmen, demonstrates that a Muslim will help a Jew, and a Jew a Muslim, a stranger another stranger, and a friend another friend, when we realise that we are all one.
JAO48 stands ready to work with all Australians affected by this horror to help ensure it does not lead to a cycle of violence.
[Jepke Goudsmit is a member of Jews Against the Occupation ’48.]