Australian Jews Testify on Experiences of Antisemitism in Bondi Beach Inquiry
As part of a public inquiry into the massacre at Bondi Beach, dozens have described being targeted for their Jewish identity in their daily lives.
A 15-year-old boy playing Minecraft with schoolmates. A father of three walking to a bus stop during rush hour. A volunteer with an ambulance service working on duty at a music festival. A university student in a shared house with two of her best friends.
It was in these otherwise mundane moments that Australian Jews were subject to brazen antisemitism, something they thought would not happen in their country, witnesses told a public commission this month.
There were insults, profanities and ugly stereotypes hurled at them, in person and online. They were spat on, egged, threatened and intimidated. Swastikas scratched into trees, Nazi salutes on the street or in class, and graffiti scrawled on school walls made them question whether Australia was a safe place for Jewish people.
For the past two weeks, dozens of Jewish Australians have taken to the witness stand to attest to the antisemitism they’ve experienced, which they said intensified after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza that followed. They testified as part of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, a wide-reaching public inquiry into December’s Bondi Beach massacre , in which two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, killing 15.
Cumulatively, the testimony was possibly the most comprehensive account of the charged reality Australia’s Jewish community has said they had been living with in the lead-up to the attack, which authorities say was carried out by gunmen inspired by the Islamic State.
