Hundreds dance and sing in the street
Around 500 members of the Melbourne Jewish community flocked to the Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre on Saturday night as news of the rescue spread on social media.
The rescue of the four Israeli hostages in Gaza saw scenes of joy in Australia as several hundred Jews danced in the street in Melbourne and flew flags at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Around 500 members of the Melbourne Jewish community flocked to the Beth Weizmann Jewish Community Centre on Saturday night as news of the rescue spread on social media.
With cars honking support, they waved Israeli and Australian flags and sang popular Hebrew songs.
The next day, Sydney Jews organised a convoy of cars from Macquarie Lighthouse at Vaucluse to Bondi Beach.
One of them, Eli, who prefers not to have his last name used, said, “I just sent out some things on social media and a couple groups. It was very last minute, probably an hour’s notice, and said, let’s meet, do a little drive around, shed a bit of the light. And then conclude at Bondi Beach, where we danced around in public and celebrated.”
He said the 20-car convoy contained around 50 people who were flying Israeli and Australian flags.
“I think it’s very, very important that we continue to thank the brave and heroic IDF, for all they do in getting our hostages home and keeping our homeland safe,” he said.
Caulfield resident Jono Baruch said the Melbourne celebrations happened spontaneously with no real organisation.
“I saw it on someone’s Instagram story and decided to head down there to be a part of the celebrations. It’s been a long eight months with just a lot of hurt, so to have something to celebrate together [it was] really a pure moment of joy for everyone that we got four of our family members back,” he said.
He said although Beth Weizmann opened its gates and attempts were made to have the crowd come in off Hawthorn Road, it was probably significant that few wanted to do that.
“For so often we’ve been told, particularly over the last eight months, that we’ve had to hide our identity, hide who we are as proud Jews, [and] proud supporters of Israel … Why would we want to be behind a fence?” Baruch said.
Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence said, “The atmosphere here is incredible. After months of heartache and tragedy, we finally have some positive news.
“God willing it won’t be too long before the remaining hostages are home in Israel, Hamas are vanquished, and peace is restored.”
Senior Sergeant Alasdair Farrell, commander of the Caulfield police station, said everyone involved was good natured and police had few problems.
“The police were more than happy to support that level of celebration. The only thing to be conscious of was roadside safety and we’re really pleased to see that nothing untoward happened,” he said.
Farrell said everyone was happy on the night, and it took a little bit of negotiating back and forth to get everyone to come off the road.
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