Australia’s Jews are angry, not terrified

It has been a deeply distressing period for Australia’s Jewish community. In recent months we saw a potentially deadly arson attack on East Melbourne Synagogue, a violent melee at the Miznon restaurant as well as several ugly, destructive graffiti and property crimes. Jews have been under attack in ways that would have been unimaginable just two years ago.

To the wider community’s credit, these awful events have generated significant, sympathetic media coverage. They have led news bulletins and seen our political leaders at all levels of government commendably condemn these incidents in the strongest possible terms. Our politicians rightly have described these outrageous attacks as not just attacks on the Jewish community, but as attacks on all Australians and on our way of life.

As distressing as these events have been and as quickly as our political leaders have shown their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community, there has been one consistent aspect of the media’s coverage that I have found concerning. Every time a newsreader or commentator describes the Jewish community’s mindset following these attacks, we are always referred to as being terrified.

It’s clear there is genuine fear among sections of the community. However, we need to be careful with the narrative we collectively communicate. Clearly, these events are distressing. And certainly, for those directly caught up in them, they would have been terrifying. However, I believe broadcasting our fears and insecurities to the wider community is a major mistake.

I understand where these sentiments come from. Images of synagogues being firebombed and Jewish businesses being attacked by thugs bring back traumatic memories of our darkest days in Nazi Europe. Perhaps, also, expressing our fears is intended to garner community sympathy and galvanise our political leaders into robust action.

However, broadcasting our fears and vulnerabilities, in my view, only emboldens our enemies and encourages them to redouble their efforts to intimidate and harass us. That’s not to say that we should just ignore these atrocious incidents. Not at all. We should describe them as the despicable, cowardly and racist outrages that they are. And we should demand government and police action.

But we should be communicating that we are angry, not terrified. We are angry that unruly mobs, with their faces covered and chanting vile slogans, can descend unimpeded on an Israeli-owned restaurant in the Melbourne CBD to harass diners and staff.

We are angry, not terrified that weeks and months of permissive policing has allowed these emboldened thugs to escalate their violence.

We as Australian Jews must communicate that we are angry, not terrified.

We cannot perpetuate the image of the terrified little Jew hiding from the marauding mobs of antisemites. That is not Jewish Australia in 2025. We cannot suggest we are too terrified to attend synagogue. We cannot suggest we are too terrified to attend Jewish or Israeli restaurants or businesses. We must make it abundantly clear we will continue going about our communal life as proud Australian Jews, whatever the Jew haters and Israel bashers may throw at us – perhaps literally.

Saying and doing anything else just encourages the racist bullies.

I am reminded of the book by US commentator Daniel Pipes, Israel Victory. In that book, Pipes harshly criticises Israel’s leaders in the lead-up to the Oslo Peace Process for repeatedly saying that Israel was tired of all the wars, the fighting and the violence – that Israel was done with all the death and destruction and simply wanted peace.

Pipes argues that those sorts of statements that were intended by Israel’s leaders as a signal of our humanity and decency, as a gesture towards peace and reconciliation, was interpreted very differently by Israel’s enemies.

They saw Israel’s statements as a sign of weakness and fatigue – as a display of vulnerability that only encouraged the Second Intifada and, arguably, October 7.

We need to learn from this insight. We need to demand that our political leaders, police and security agencies do much more to keep our community safe. However, we also need to communicate that we are not terrified. There is nothing our enemies can do to break our spirit or compel us to cower in our homes. We have faced down far worse than what these cowardly thugs can possibly throw at us. And we shall do so again.

Jason Rose is a Jewish Dad living in Melbourne.