To the non-Jews who have reached out

I am fortunate to work in a caring Not for Profit, Infoxchange, whose byline is “Technology for Social Justice”. So it was no surprise when our CEO, David Spriggs, posted a caring statement to all-staff email at 7:48AM on Monday 15/12/25. This is part of my response to him and to all the non-Jews who have reached out.

Thank you to the many colleagues who have reached out since last Sunday to express their shared grief and horror and their sympathy and empathy for what happened – the worst terror attack on Australian soil at an icon of Australia – motivated by antisemitism.

I want to share with you some things about the Australian Jewish community that you may not know. I share this, not to try and make it sound like we are special, we are not, but to give you all some context around how the massacre on Sunday is a double tragedy for us – both as Australians and Jews.

1. Melbourne has the highest population of Polish Holocaust survivors per capita outside of Israel. They truly felt that they had found a country of safety by coming to Australia. Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor who was murdered, at Bondi last Sunday.

2. There are only 120,000 Jews in Australia, but since 9/11, on the advice of police and security experts, every Jewish kindergarten, primary school, high school, synagogue, library, community centre, museum etc. has had guards.

3. Since Oct 7, 2023 – again on advice from police and security experts, not only do these guards now have carry guns but security cameras, blast proof glass, anti-ramming fences & bollards and double gates (first must close before you can open the second) have been installed. Imagine walking your children into heavily fortified kindergarten or primary school and acting like this is somehow normal.

All of this was happening for years before Bondi.

For terror to then strike at the heart of multicultural Australia feels irreconcilable with the values that we all share. We have lost our sense of safety and freedom to express our cultural heritage in public, like any other Australian can.

What helps us all feel the capacity to rebuild after these events are the incredible actions of others on the beach who came to help. While we have all seen the incredible bravery of Ahmed al Ahmed, there were many others – surf lifesavers, police, international tourists and beach lovers. They are all heroes because they acted, putting humanity before personal safety. This is our Australia.