‘Never change your beautiful hearts’

Since Sunday’s brutal terror attack at Bondi Beach, The AJN has been inundated with messages of support from followers and readers throughout Australia – Jewish and non-Jewish.

We thank those who stand alongside us.

One of my great grandfathers came to the Colony of Victoria, as it then was, to escape antisemitism in England. The family prospered and was safe. Many have come to Australia for the same reason. It seems no longer the safe haven it was. Strength, action and education are required to return Australia to the place of welcoming refuge.

We need to rejoice in diversity and the right to have religious freedom and absolute tolerance. We have the right to practise our religion and to live without fear. I am just so upset and appalled. There is no place, ever, for antisemitism in Australia or anywhere.

Rowan M. Downing KC

As co-chair of the Canada Australia Friendship Group in the Canadian Parliament I wanted to express my deepest condolences to all Australians and in particular to the Jewish community following the despicable antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi.

I myself have been in the location of the attack when I visited Australia and I cannot even imagine the horror of those who were present and the fear and anger my many friends in the Australian Jewish community feel today. Throughout Canada yesterday, as we lit public menorahs outside of city halls or in front of synagogues on Sunday, we expressed our strong support for Australia’s Jewish community and prayed for those killed and injured and their families and friends. I want Jewish Australians to know that we, in Canada, care about a community that has contributed so much to Australia and to the world.

Anthony Housefather

Our family is praying and our thoughts are with you. We have tied black ribbons on our street trees in remembrance of those lost in this tragedy. No person on this earth should live in fear of their beliefs, colour or thoughts. I am Catholic but have Jewish friends who have always welcomed me into their homes with nothing but love and kindness. I am devastated for your community and pray that now the government will do what they should have done all along; protected you from harm and hate. I pray that you all find love, peace and a sense of feeling secure in your lives. We should all feel that. Many thanks for being you. Never change your beautiful culture or your beautiful hearts because of fear and hate. We are with you. We hear you and God bless you all.

Best wishes

Jag and Tiffany Riddle

I am an 80-year-old Australian-born male of the Catholic faith. I was not at Bondi but have seen a lot in the media about what happened. To me this is the darkest day in the history of this country, this attack on Australians should never have happened. Since 8/10/2023 at the Opera House this antisemitism has been allowed to fester by both state and federal governments.

I have written to both the Premier and Prime Minister advising them of my disgust at their lack of action. I advised the Prime Minister that he has always wanted a legacy to be remembered by, and that he now has that, and it is written in blood on the sands of Bondi Beach. My condolences to our Jewish Australian community.

Les

I have a beautiful, soft, 11-year-old granddaughter called Tilly, who is in a bat mitzvah program. When the Bondi news broke, I wasn’t surprised. It was the inevitable next step from the path Australia was on. An anti-Israel government and institutions, antisemitism dressed in anti-

Zionism rhetoric, lies peddled about genocide, apartheid, starvation in Gaza. It all seemed predictable as it unfolded. I was upset but stoic. However, when we started getting real names and stories, the reality struck me. Beautiful, 10- year-old Tilly [Matilda] shot. Her family taking her out for a lovely Chanukah event on an iconic beach. Her life stolen from her. How will her adoring family and friends feel? I then imagined how I would feel if it had been our Tilly. This is not grainy images from 1940s eastern Europe but graphic images from the land our families escaped to. I feel that we failed her and must ensure that her death was not in vain and that we keep her memory alive.

Roger Mendelson

You do not have to be Jewish to love and respect Israel or the Jewish faith. Bless all those that suffered and are suffering from the events of Bondi. Our Australia will never be the same. In loving memory of those innocent souls stolen from present life and now living in eternity.

Susan and Barry Wallace

I am so terribly sorry for all that has happened not only [on Sunday] but all the cruelty, all the hate, all the disrespectful treatment, the hateful language the Jewish people have endured at the hands of evil. My heart is broken. My faith is again questioned. How can this happen again to the innocence that is the Jewish people? I feel such shame that this country that claims to stand with you continually deserts you. To all those directly affected by yesterday’s horror, sorry. To the government of this country, shame on you. I’m lost myself, are Australians evil, are they just ignorant? Please know we are not all the same. May you have the strength just one more time to stand tall and may you finally find the respect and safety you deserve.

You have the blood of innocents on your hands, Albanese. You have brought shame on this country and disgrace to the office you hold. Your complacency is the cause of this tragedy.

So, so sorry. May you somehow find strength to recover.

Melina

I am not Jewish and I live in regional Queensland so I cannot comment on the events of yesterday with anything but the voice of an Australian. An ex-Australian Army serviceman who served on the Sinai Peninsula and who interacted with and lived amongst the People of Israel over a period of seven months back in the mid-1990s.

I have always supported Israel as a nation and the Jewish people as a people. It beggars belief in my mind that this country, Australia, has come to this. I pray for those impacted by Bondi 14 Dec 25, I pray for the Australian Jewish community and I pray for the Jewish people wherever they may be in this world.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Kaye

I am appalled that this has happened. It is so unAustralian as has been all the exhibitions of ethnic hatred including that towards our Indigenous peoples and anyone else worldwide. You have stood up against many years of such hatred in Israel recently as Ukraine also stands up. I wonder if it will ever be world recognised that such hatred is against the Laws of God.

With deepest sorrow for your losses.

Diana

I stand in solidarity with all those who have been shattered by this horrible attack, especially the Jewish community who have experienced increasing antisemitism since October 2023. In my church community we have been praying and taking proactive actions to speak up against hateful speech and attempts against our Jewish friends.

I will continue to do so whenever I get the opportunity to stand up for truth and justice.

At this very sad time my thoughts and prayers are with the Jewish people, especially those who are experiencing the unimaginable grief and trauma of this attack.

With kind regards

Gerda Baalmann

My heart is breaking for my Jewish brothers and sisters. I am not Jewish (one-sixth Jewish from my paternal grandmother), but I have always supported and loved the Jewish people. I lived in Israel on a kibbutz in 1980, my love for Jewish people started then. I wear a Star of David bracelet in support of Jews and my ‘no to antisemitism’ t-shirts. It’s a small personal token to help fight antisemitism. I know it’s not much. This tragic, heinous act shatters all Australians. Please take strength from the fact that normal everyday people stand with you. I am so sorry this has happened. My candles are burning bright in my window in solidarity and support. Antisemitism and evil will not win.

With love, Debra

Precious Jewish friends

I with you stand in shock and disbelief re the events in Bondi. I am a Christian and love the Jewish people and share your sorrow and pain that result from such barbaric behaviour as perpetrated. I pray for healing for the wounded and strength and love for the grieving.

Pamela Taylor

I am shattered, heartbroken and angry. So very, very angry. This is not the Australia I know. Hatred against a community, that only wants to give back to the place they live, has been normalised. We all knew it would happen but our government sat on their hands. This will not destroy us. We are a strong, resilient community that will never be allowed to be broken. We will stand strong and we will do it together.

Debby Palti

I’m just one person in Victoria who was absolutely shocked by the horrific terrorist attack on the Jewish community at Bondi. I’m not Jewish but I stand beside you. I’m not religious but I’m praying for your community. For the survivors, those still in hospital, and for those who witnessed such an atrocity, I honestly don’t know what to say. I have no words.

Robyn

I am Jewish. I was born in Warsaw Poland in 1936.

We escaped Warsaw just before the establishment of the ghetto. We trekked to Bialystok from where we were taken to a labour camp in Siberia. My father died in that camp. We were let free in 1941, my mother, sister and I. From Siberia to Georgia where we spent the rest of the war. In 1945 from Georgia to Poland, from Poland to a DP camp in Germany, from Germany to France, 1951 from France to Australia.

Here we felt safe and planted our roots. I have now reached a ripe old age of nearly 90. After what happened in Bondi for the first time since we established our life here we do not feel safe.

Tell me where can I go.

John Sojka

I extend my condolences to the Jewish community and to the families of the victims of this horrendous act of antisemitism. May their memory forever be a blessing.

Sincerely, an Australian Muslim

So, so sorry to hear of the Bondi shooting and the death of the young person. We extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends. This isn’t our Australia … We are very sad and very angry.

Lindsay and Cheryl Bundaberg.

I wish to express my sincere condolences to the Jewish community after the events that have occurred at Bondi Beach. I am from Wangaratta in regional Victoria, and sadly we do not have any Jewish organisations or churches that I can attend to pay my respects.

Jade

I just wanted to directly share my deepest condolences to the Australian Jewish community … Please know that we are feeling the heaviness across the globe and thinking of every family directly and indirectly impacted by the event yesterday, and every other dismissed event prior.

Alana

Sydney mourns. We stand together in solidarity with Jewish Australians, with the broader Australian community, and with all those who lost their beloved family members in the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. No one in this country should live in fear because of their identity, beliefs, or community ties. Safety, dignity, and the rule of law must be upheld for all.

Rana

We will get through this simply because we have each other. Broken but they will never break us.

Kelly Sacks Coughlan