Fighting Australian antisemitism in the wake of October 7

On 7 October 2023, in a day of horror, Hamas terrorists carried out barbaric attacks on the people of southern Israel.

The grief and horror of that day lives on in families, in communities, and in people I know. I have felt that grief and horror since that day.

Hundreds of festival goers were murdered at the Nova festival near Re’im. In nearby communities, families were brutally attacked and butchered in their homes. More than 1,200 men, women and children were murdered. More than 250 people were taken hostage. This was the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single event since the Holocaust.

At Kibbutz Be'eri, where more than 130 people were killed, I met with Danny Majzner. He walked me through a once peaceful community that will never be the same. Danny survived, but his sister, Galit Carbone, an Australian grandmother, did not. She was murdered in her home. To walk those streets of Be'eri is to understand the weight of what was lost.

At the site of the Nova music festival, Shalev Biton guided me through the place where 340 people were murdered. Shalev had just returned from working in Australia before attending the festival. He escaped and was able to tell me his story of horror and survival.

Hearing these experiences directly reinforced that these were not acts of war. They were terrorist atrocities. And they must never be forgotten.

It is shocking that in Australia the barbarity of October 7 has been followed by a rise of antisemitic violence and public abuse.