Truth test: Royal Commission after Bondi
After Bondi, the government moves on antisemitism, concerns remain about scope, leadership and follow-through.
The AJN welcomes Prime Minister Anthony Albanese finally calling a Royal Commission into antisemitism nearly four weeks after the Bondi Chanukah terrorist attack and we give our thanks to those across Australian society who advocated for such an outcome.
(We’d like to think it was our cover last Thursday that finally tipped the balance, but we digress).
While some are concerned regarding the choice of commissioner and the length of the probe, we will reserve our judgement until we see the inquiry in action.
As well as looking at governmental failures, it is our sincere hope that commissioner Virginia Bell will not shy away from looking at both Islamist extremism and far-left antisemitism as factors that led to the environment in which the massacre took place.
The need for action on this unholy alliance has been rendered ever more clear as anti-Israel protesters again took to Melbourne’s streets over the weekend, calling to “globalise the intifada” with scant regard that that is exactly what happened at Bondi.
Australia has had enough of seeing this rancour on our streets.
Notwithstanding that indulging their tired vitriol meant precious Victorian resources were diverted away from fighting bushfires that are ravishing the state and aiding those affected, the anti-Israel mob (they are not pro-Palestinian) blatantly ignore that right now, there are indeed innocent civilians being slaughtered in the Middle East who need voices in the West to support them.
We refer of course to the brave Iranians who after 47 years of totalitarian oppression are rising up in the name of freedom and being shot in the streets by the brutal Islamic regime.
To diatribe about alleged Israeli offences in Gaza when there is a ceasefire in place but say nothing about Iranians suggests the anti-Israel crowd are not actually concerned about human rights at all. One may also wonder whether it is a coincidence that their narrative echoes that of the despotic Iranian regime, which funds and supports Hamas.
Anti-Israel activists like to talk about who is “on the right side of history”. So let’s not forget that last August they marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge under a portrait of the same totalitarian tyrant that the people of Iran are now demonstrating against.