Australia should not have been shocked by the homicidal nurses

I wasn’t shocked by the recent video of two Sydney nurses bragging about killing Israelis patients.  

I was disgusted, of course, and grateful they had been caught on camera. It was sickening to see how comfortable they felt making such claims in their workplace – a hospital, where their job was to provide medical care to patients of all identities. 

But I’ve been hearing these kinds of sentiments for 16 months now. Looking through Instagram a few days after October 7, 2023, I realised that Australia has a massive problem.  

My Jewish friends were devasted by the news that their friends and family had been attacked and murdered during the Hamas massacre. Angry mobs had defiled the steps of the Sydney Opera House, screaming “Fuck the Jews” as they burned Israeli flags. 

But many of my non-Jewish friends and acquaintances, particularly from the queer and arts scenes, posted content that denied, justified or outright supported the October 7 attack.  

The social media post that shocked me to my core came from  an academic known for their left wing, queer activism, who shared a post from X to their Instagram page. Written by journalist Najma Sharif Alawi on October 8, 2023, it read: 

“What did ya’ll think decolonization meant? Vibes? Papers? Essays? Losers.” 

I was horrified. We ran in the same social circles. I’d had drinks with their partner at a friend’s home. Now, here they were, mocking a terrorist attack that had targeted my community with the most brutal acts of violence, kidnapping and murder.