October 7: Honouring the memory of Galit Carbone
'When the Foreign Minister (Penny Wong) was in Israel she didn't even bother to contact me or any of my sister's kids.'
Galit Carbone was the only Australian murdered on October 7, 2023, but her brother Geoffrey Majzner is still disappointed by the Australian government’s lack of support for the family.
Majzner himself survived the massacre on Kibbutz Be’eri that day, while Carbone – who was born in Australia and at the age of 10 made aliyah with her family –was murdered by Hamas terrorists in her home.
“My sister was an Australian citizen and there was hardly any response, besides the respect shown by Australian ambassador Ralph King who came to her funeral, but that was it,” Majzner told The AJN.
“When the Foreign Minister (Penny Wong) was in Israel she didn’t even bother to contact me or any of my sister’s kids and she never bothered to come down to Be’eri to see where it happened.”
Majzner, who was also born in Australia, has been attempting to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his visit to Australia.
“If I do get to meet Mr Albanese while I’m in Australia – I have people trying to work on it – I will say that in a very polite manner that I’m really disappointed with the Australian government,” he said.
Soon after October 7, Majzner began conducting tours of the devastated community, taking groups from overseas through the homes where residents were murdered. His purpose is making sure as many people as possible know what happened on Kibbutz Be’eri that day.
“After October 7 we were relocated to Hatzerim, but I commute to Be’eri every day for my bike business,” he said.
“In my spare time I do lots of tours for people, lots of groups from overseas who need an English-
speaking guy, and someone that can take all that heat again by showing the houses where people were murdered.”
Among those he has guided through the kibbutz was former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus.
“Mark Dreyfus came to Israel and I took him and the Australian ambassador Mr King, on a tour of Kibbutz Be’eri,” he said.
Majzner has also taken former Federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton and staunch friend of Israel, Nova Peris, through the site.
During his Australian visit, Majzner will speak to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, and will attend and speak at the October 7 commemoration events in Melbourne and Sydney.
“Everyone takes the pain differently and I think it’s really a matter of choices that you make in your life,” said Majzner.
“My mind was to get up and go back to as normal as possible, as soon as possible. That’s my way of dealing with it.
“I did have a few breakdowns along the way in the first week or two, but a close friend of mine said he survived in order to tell the story. I’m not a religious person and I don’t think I’m a spiritual person, but I really do believe that I’m on a mission.”
As Kibbutz Be’eri begins to rebuild, the plight of the hostages remain front of mind. The bodies of four of the community members remain in Gaza and Majzner said the trauma of that day will not be fully processed until every hostage is returned.
“The families and the community need them back for closure,” he said.
“Luckily enough Kibbutz Be’eri as a community is very strong. We used to be about 1,150 there before October 7 and now I hope when we do go back, as a rebirth of the community, we’ll have between 70 and 80 per cent of the survivors back – that’s probably around 750 to 800 people. It will be good. The community is alive.”
The October 7 commemoration event will take place in Sydney on October 12 under the theme ‘Together as Australians, Unity in Community.’
“What makes this commemoration especially powerful is that it will not only be a gathering of the Jewish community, but will also include leaders and friends from across Australian society: political, religious and cultural representatives, standing in unity with us,” said Zionist Council of NSW CEO Yossi Eshed.
“We strongly encourage all community members to attend, bringing Israeli and Australian flags with, for a night of remembering, honouring and inspiration.”
The October 7 commemoration event in Melbourne will take place on October 19 with a Shabbat-inspired tekes (ritual, ceremony).
To register for the Sydney event visit https://events.humanitix.com/oct-7-official-commemoration-sydney
To register for the Melbourne event visit https://events.humanitix.com/zv710