Father’s Day hostage vigil at Bondi Beach

“I am a father and I stand here today in solidarity with…”

These words were spoken over and over again on the grass at Sydney’s Bondi Beach over the weekend as a group of Jewish community members and their allies gathered to read the names of the remaining 48 hostages.

Each week, a group of Jewish community members, formed in the early days after October 7, meets to read the names of those who are still being held captive in Gaza. This week, poignantly, they chose to read the names in Bondi, where just hours earlier, a pro-Palestinian group had gathered on the sand to protest.

Now organised by Alexis Aruch and Liron Solomon, the group was originally formed by Naama Levy’s cousin Tzachi Shachar. They have been advocating for the hostages since a few months after the war began.

“A few months into the war, we had a feeling amongst us that the issue of the hostages, and the plea for their return is dying down,” Solomon told the crowd that had gathered, the largest so far. “There are so many things that are happening in our community, in the country, in the world. And our mission, and our only mission, is to advocate for the return of the hostages and for their families.”