Pride and unity – as Jews, and as Australians
What the mainstream press should have focused on was that a group of proud Australians who yearn only for peace abroad and harmony at home.
If one read only the mainstream press, they would be forgiven for thinking that Sunday’s counter rally against anti-Israel activists at Bondi Beach led to division and violence.
This could not be further from the truth. Our reporter was there for two hours and witnessed only solidarity, pride and unity.
Yes, there was a scuffle at one point, in relation to which police are interested in interviewing three individuals. But to characterise the entire event in this way is to misrepresent it.
What the mainstream press should have focused on was that a group of proud Australians who yearn only for peace abroad and harmony at home decided that they have had enough of division. They have had enough of seeing our nation’s most famous landmarks sullied by divisive demonstrations pitting Australian against Australian and calling for the elimination of an ally.
They have had enough of Hamas propaganda, terrorist symbols and open support for murderous regimes on Australian soil, tearing away at the delicate fabric of our society.
It is telling that Australian flags proudly flew alongside Israeli flags. As Jews, we obviously care deeply about Israel, but we are proud Australians who love our country. We helped to build it and we are invested in its future, for all our fellow citizens.
In contrast, the anti-Israel demonstrators, when offered Australian flags, allegedly responded with obscenities and insults.
Enough is enough.
It is well past time that those who seek to cause division are no longer given a free pass. The rot should have been stopped immediately after October 7. It wasn’t.
Those who celebrated Hamas’s bloody massacre in western Sydney on October 8, 2023 should have been shamed. The baying mob at the Sydney Opera House the next night should have felt the full force of the law. Thugs should never have been permitted to descend on Caulfield in November 2023. Last month’s Sydney Harbour Bridge demonstration should never have been permitted.
Instead, inaction left the forces of division feeling emboldened. And on Sunday, when those forces announced they were coming to where we live, where our children play – we emphatically said no.
And we will continue to do so – not with violence, not with hate and division, but with Jewish and Australian pride.