Eight-year-old’s heartbreaking words to mother

An eight-year-old girl’s words to her mother – “Now, when I come to Bondi, I think about dying,” – have captured the depth of fear gripping Jewish Australians, as witnesses began giving testimony to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion this week.

The girl’s mother, known only as Dina, told the Commission, “It’s so painful, even if you weren’t there, because the reality is they came to kill us. We just weren’t there.”

Witness after witness described how life has fundamentally changed for Jewish Australians since October 7, 2023.

A witness identified only as AAO recounted how a stranger at the Australian Open in January said the Bondi shooters “should have killed more” Jews.

“She was just ranting about Jewish people and how terrible we are, bad for society, and how they should have done a better job,” AAO said.

Newtown Synagogue vice-president Toby Raphael recalled stopping to watch a protest near the University of Sydney in 2024 while still wearing his yarmulke.

“Then some guy just came up to me and said ‘you dirty f**king pig Jew!’ right up to my face – this close – and spat in my face … and the security did nothing,” he said.

A Victorian mother known as AAP told how her high school children came home soon after October 7 saying they didn’t want to be Jewish anymore. She said classmates had joked about dressing up as Adolf Hitler or the Bondi shooters for their year 12 muck-up day.

“It seems to me that we’re heading towards major trouble if people don’t want to speak up or can’t speak up,” she said.

Bialik College principal Jeremy Stowe-Lindner spoke of an “avalanche” of antisemitic incidents since October 7, with security staff logging around 50 notable incidents including people driving past shouting “f**k the Jews” and giving Nazi salutes at sporting events.

Holocaust survivor Peter Halasz told the Commission he found himself “for the first time since childhood, afraid to wear my Star of David in public … for the first time since I fled Hungary, feeling that my identity was something I should hide”.

“If things don’t improve, one day, we might have to think about leaving – which is not something that I ever thought,” he said.

Witness AAL said the root cause of antisemitism – Islamist extremism – needs to be stamped out.

Despite the fear, several witnesses expressed defiance. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said Jewish families are asking him when it is time to leave Australia, but declared, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going down with the ship, if that’s what is required. I love this country and I will continue to fight for the future of my community in this country.”

Nir Golan said, “It is time that we stand up,” despite being targeted online for agreeing to give evidence.

Melbourne businessman Kovi Paneth said he refuses to stop wearing his kippah despite repeated antisemitic abuse, saying, “If we do that, we let the bastards win.”

Even as evidence continued on Wednesday morning, an individual wearing an antisemitic shirt was moved on by NSW Police from outside the Royal Commission hearing location.

The Commission had received more than 5700 submissions as of April 30, an increase of almost 2000 in a week. More than 4000 submitters identified as Jewish. The deadline for submissions has been extended to June 14.

Hearing block one continues this week and next week.