Words are no longer enough. Now, action
From the Mourner’s Kaddish in Parliament to calls for reform, Australia must now act to confront antisemitism.
There was nothing quite so striking as witnessing the House of Representatives stand in silence for the Mourner’s Kaddish on Monday.
To hear our holy prayer in that place was as moving as it was surreal. It was a rare moment of beauty – but a moment that should not have had to happen.
So too were the speeches by the many Members of Parliament and Senators expressing their horrors and their sympathies following what happened at Bondi Beach on December 14.
For the most part, the Greens playing hard-left politics aside, our nation’s political representatives on both sides of the aisle were humble and genuine in expressing their sorrows and remorse.
But that is the easy part. The Chanukah massacre terror attack was a wake-up call for Australia. There is no time to waste in acting on its lessons.
As Opposition Leader Sussan Ley recalled being told by mourners in the week following the attack, “So many times, we heard: I don’t want your words. I want something to be done.”
We echo that call today.
For more than two years after October 7, 2023, our community called for action to address rising anti-Jewish hate. It was the lack of that action we asked for, that created the conditions that led to 15 people being murdered.
Lamenting that fact will not bring them back. But to avoid another similar incident and to restore the Australia we knew and loved, right now no one in Australia is better positioned to act than the elected men and women who gave their condolence statements in Canberra this week.
They can enact laws. They can set the tone. They can lead by example. It is incumbent and non-negotiable on them to do so.
The calling of a Royal Commission into antisemitism and social cohesion is a very good start. Legislation to proscribe hate groups is another welcome development.
But as Ley also pointed out, “If you can’t name the problem you can’t possibly defeat it.”
No amount of politicking can avoid the fact that radical Islamist extremism is a threat to the whole population, the mainstream Muslim community included.
Because only honesty in facing the problem will lead to real change.