Erin Molan on standing up for Israel

Journalist Erin Molan delivered a powerful address at St Kilda Shule on September 14, where she was warmly received by the crowd of over 500 with standing ovations. Molan has become a leading advocate for Israel and against antisemitism in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.

Molan said this journey began for her when she spoke out against the October 7 Hamas attacks as a presenter on Sky News Australia, and was shocked by how many justified the attacks as ‘resistance’ or were silent.

“When October 7 happened, I was… absolutely appalled and sickened beyond comprehension. But I wasn’t as worried until I saw what happened on October 9 here in this country, because I knew the evil that existed within extremists… we will always have a few bad eggs… But what terrified me was the silence that followed, not just from our leaders, who were weak and who were pathetic in the aftermath of that, because that was our moment. That was our moment as a country, to stand up and say, ‘We do not accept that, not on this land, not on my watch’.”

On October 9, 2023, an anti-Israel crowd gathered at the Opera House to celebrate the Hamas attacks and yelled ‘Where’s the Jews?’.

“It was those days in the aftermath when I heard our police tell the Jewish community to stay home rather than protect them”, who, “provided a safe space for people celebrating not free speech, [but] incitement to violence, hate speech,” she said.