At Bondi, every Jewish person's worst nightmare came true. Can we still have a safe future in Australia? | Dean Sherr

"Being Jewish in Australia today feels very different to when I was a child. Growing up, it was about family, community, culture. It was about our customs, cuisine, our shared history and connectedness. I learned about antisemitism, but it was mostly historic. Centuries of the persecution, expulsion and mass murder of Jews around the world not least during the Holocaust, recent enough that there were living survivors to tell their stories first-hand."

"But I grew up in a country with no real history of antisemitism, in a small, tight-knit community that was deeply embedded in the nation around it. Antisemitism was not an obviously immediate threat to Jewish Australians. There were incidents, but they were relatively minor by historical or global standards. Deadly attacks on synagogues, Jewish businesses and community centres were things that happened overseas, not here."

"We knew there were threats. We passed the armed guards and fences every time we went to a synagogue or Jewish school. But mostly we felt safe. This was the lucky country a safe, diverse, welcoming and tolerant nation. There was scarcely a safer place or time in history to be Jewish than this Australia. It doesn't feel like that any more."

"Antisemitism has increased over the past 26 months. Synagogues, Jewish businesses, homes and vehicles have been defaced and firebombed. Jewish people have been doxed and ostracised from communities. It has been soul crushing and heartbreaking. It has caused anger and distress. It has cast a long and dark shadow over our lives. In recent times, antisemitism has dominated the national political debate. It has been exhaustively partisan."

Being Jewish in Australia once centered on family, community, culture, customs, cuisine, shared history and connectedness, with Holocaust survivors providing first-hand testimony. Australia historically lacked a deep record of antisemitism, and Jewish communities felt embedded, safe and welcomed. Over the past 26 months antisemitism has risen markedly: synagogues, businesses, homes and vehicles have been defaced and firebombed; individuals have been doxxed and ostracised, causing heartbreak, anger and distress. Antisemitism has become a highly partisan national political issue, and public statements have failed to stop attacks. A recent terrorist attack targeted Jewish festival attendees, shattering the sense of safety.

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