Erin Molan at Bialik
Molan has voiced strong support for Israel and consistently condemned rising antisemitism.
Erin Molan spoke at Bialik College before a crowd of 350 in conversation with ABC Radio national manager Dina Rosendorff on February 19. Earlier that day Molan met with Bialik students to share her views.
Molan has been outspoken in her support for Israel in its war against Hamas as well as in condemning antisemitism. The former Sky News presenter has a huge social media following around the world, and she has become the host of a show on X titled 69X Minutes. The first episode expressed outrage at the murder of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas and her children Ariel and Kfir by their captors in Gaza.
Asked about her visit to Israel last year, Molan described it as “an incredible trip” that was “brutal and hard” as she visited the sites of the October 7, 2023 massacre and watched the raw vision of Hamas terrorists from that day.
“My greatest fear is not being able to protect my child. And I think watching that vision, I saw a dad from a security camera with maybe a five-year-old and a seven-year-old under each arm and his face as he was running to try and save them, and then I saw two Hamas terrorists shoot him and their faces.
“The joy that they derived from that, I will never ever forget that, and it helped me understand without any doubt whatsoever, who these people were … These two little boys were then sitting at a table having just watched their dad die in front of them, shaking, crying, blood over them, and these guys are at the fridge having a laugh and a chat. You know, that is who Hamas are. That is who people in our country and on our streets and wave their flags, that is who they support.”
Molan said she is not Jewish or Israeli but is committed to calling out antisemitism and extremism because “we all have skin in this”. Molan said she continued to be inspired by her late father Jim Molan, a former senator and major-general, who encouraged her to stand up for what is right.
She remarked, “I will stand up here and call out the extremism every single day of the week … Here in this country, and police in particular, are so terrified of it. No one’s asking them to be Islamophobic. Nobody wants that, that hurts everyone as much as anything. But we’ve got to get to the stage where we can actually say antisemitism is a massive issue in this country.”
Bialik principal Jeremy Stowe-Linder said the school community appreciated her inspiring visit. “After Erin Molan spoke to our senior school, one of our mazkirut (year 12 student leaders) said to me that they were so relieved to hear that there are eloquent and kind supports of Israel and the Jewish people beyond our community.
“I am sure that the 350 visitors who attended Bialik College to hear Erin Molan speak felt the same way. Bialik is proud to be at the forefront of our community, supporting Israel in its hour of need, and praying for the safe return of all of our hostages,” Stowe-Lindner said.
Molan returned to Israel this week to speak at the International Conference Combating Antisemitism.
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