Melbourne Jews and Iranians unite

Iranian-born Melburnians carrying the Lion and Sun flag received a standing ovation at Caulfield Shule on Sunday night at a Jewish community event marking the outbreak of war with Iran.

It featured speeches, songs and the recitation of Tehillim (psalms), with the presence of the Iranian exiles drawing one of the night’s most emotional responses from the crowd.

An Iranian woman who fled the regime 17 years ago and now calls Australia home, introduced simply as Noosh, delivered a moving address drawing parallels between the Iranian and Jewish peoples.

“I was born in Iran and left 17 years ago as a teenager. I have experienced the brutality of this regime first hand,” she said.

“I grew up in a country where I was told what to wear, what to say, what to watch, what to think, where girls are controlled, where children are systematically brainwashed at schools, where asking for basic human rights can mean being beaten in the streets of Tehran. I have seen it. I have lived it.”

Noosh said she stood at the event representing the millions of Iranians who had not had the same chance to escape.

“I am one of the fortunate few … who managed to live and build a life in a free country like Australia. Not everyone had the same chance. For decades, Iranians have resisted. They have protested. They have risked everything, and many have paid for it with their lives.”

She said October 7 had affected her deeply and personally.

“Terrorism does not distinguish between Persian and Jew, between Iranian and Israeli. Hatred has the same face everywhere.”

Drawing on the Purim narrative, she said: “This is not a war against Iran. It is a war for Iran. It is a fight for the possibility of a different future, for Israelis to live safely and for Iranians to live freely.”

She closed with a vision of reconciliation. “I dream of the day when we will gather not in solidarity against terror, but in celebration of peace. I dream of walking you all through the streets of a free Iran, because friendship between our people is not a fantasy. It is a return to something ancient.”

Elyse Schachna, President of Zionism Victoria, told the crowd the moment carried consequences beyond a single conflict.

“What is unfolding is not isolated. It is a test whether extremism advances unchecked or whether it is confronted, a test whether terror reshapes a region or whether stability is defended. The consequences of doing nothing would have been far greater.”

She acknowledged the human cost of the conflict. “Lives have been lost. Families are grieving. We honour them. We pray for the safety of the soldiers of the IDF. We pray for the civilians of Israel, living under threat. And we stand with the people of Iran, risking everything in pursuit of freedom.”

Schachna closed with a rallying declaration: “The Lion has roared, and it will not be silenced.”

Rabbi Moshe Kahn, President of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, noted that he had been due to lead a group of 50 young people to Israel before the conflict intervened.

Drawing on the Purim story, he said the gathering echoed Mordechai’s call to the Jewish people millennia ago.

“Every time there is adversity, every time there is pain, there is struggle, we know that the hand of God is with us,” he said.

Rabbi Kahn led the crowd in a minute of prayer for the IDF, the citizens of Israel, “the upstanding citizens of Iran” and for lasting peace.