October 8, 2024
Thousands of Jewish Australians have gathered in an extraordinary show of unity to mark a year since the brutal October 7 terrorist attacks, vowing to “stand up and work for the state of Israel” and to double down on Jewish education fearing that “if we miss one generation, history will be forgotten”.
About 12,000 people sat on plastic chairs in a park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs for a solemn vigil to grieve the more than 1200 Israelis killed on October 7, as former co-chief executive of Westfield Corporation Steven Lowy urged Jewish Australians to act on this important “moment in time”.
“Of course … we are at a very, very difficult time in history. So we have to ask ourselves, what is it that we can do. With those who have a lot, those who have a little, those that can do a lot, those that can do a little,” he said.
“Everybody needs to stand up and work for the State of Israel, and everybody needs to stand up for our community. Our community is only strong because of its institutions. We need to double down on Jewish education. We need to double down on all of our institutions. This is the moment in time. If we miss one generation, history will be forgotten.”
He also shared a message to those he called “our enemies” who congregated at the Sydney Opera House on October 9.
“I have a message for our enemies, our enemies from October the 9th at the Sydney Opera House and since, whether they chanted ‘f--k the Jews’, ‘gas the Jews’ or ‘where’s the Jews’, it doesn’t matter, what matters is that there are 12,000 of us here, right now, that’s what happens.”
Politicians from across the political spectrum were also united in firmly condemning the “poison of anti-Semitism” that has seeped deeper into Australian society than ever.
Crowds gave Peter Dutton a standing ovation as he arrived at the vigil before the Opposition Leader told them: “Israel has every right to defend its territory and its people from existential threats, from Hamas, from Hezbollah, from the Houthis, and from the Iranian regime which sponsors them all.”
Labor Health Minister Mark Butler, whose Jewish great great great grandparents migrated to Melbourne 150 years ago, said Israel has the right to defend itself and respond to terror attacks including the events of October 7, the Hezbollah rockets fired the next day and since then, and the 180 missiles shot from Iran last week – Labor’s strongest defence of Israel since Hamas’s massacre.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said there was “no context, no history and no perspective” to justify the killing of innocent people by Hamas on October 7 – and that “shamefully we must acknowledge that (anti-Semitism) is here in Australia today”.
Vigils took place across Australia on Monday during one of the holiest periods of the Hebrew calendar between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as people mourned those killed in the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. On that day, 250 people were also taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. Nearly 100 of them remain in the tunnels of Gaza.
The subsequent war on Hamas in Gaza has left more than 40,000 people dead.
President of the Zionist Council of NSW Orli Zhava, standing underneath a blue illuminated Star of David, welcomed the massive crowds to the official ceremony for October 7, which she said, had “left deep scars on our collective consciousness”. She shared the first of many message of a “united” front. “We stand together as one,” she said.
Mr Butler, a key internal backer of Anthony Albanese, said “no self-respecting nation would fail to defend itself if attacked the way Israel has been”.
“Co-ordinated attacks from her south, north and east by terror groups and a state openly committed to the destruction of Israel, the only Jewish state on the planet – of course, Israel has the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks,” Mr Butler said.
He said that “history’s oldest prejudice, its oldest hatred – anti-Semitism – is growing and spreading here in a way we’ve never seen before” and “it must stop”.
Mr Minns said the evening was an important opportunity to stand against anti-Semitism, which is not “hermitically sealed in the history books – or even confined to conflict in the Middle East” but was here in Australia today.
“There is no context, no history and no perspective that can ever justify the murder of an infant in her cot in front of her mother, the killing of an unarmed Holocaust survivor or the massacre of children dancing in the desert.
“And no just society would ever claim that there is,” he said.
Mr Dutton spoke of the “anti-Semitic rot” affecting Western democracies that was awoken and exposed on October 7.
He condemned those who sought “to distort, to deny and defend the barbarism that took place on October 7”, saying “it’s our duty to commit to our national memory, the horrors and the heartbreak” of that day.
Members of the Jewish youth movement said “the future of our community is bright because of the passion and education of our young leaders”.
“We are the ones who will ensure our community not only survives but thrives.”
Nova Music Festival survivor Michal Ohana told her emotional story of hiding underneath an empty IDF tank before being shot by Hamas terrorists. “To be here today with all Australian community, it’s a powerful experience for me … I’m here today to bring a light and hope,” she said.
Anthony Albanese’s government has been accused of allowing anti-Semitism to “fester” in Australia as the Prime Minister took a front-row seat at Melbourne’s Jewish memorial on Monday.
More than 5000 Jewish Australians attended a moving commemoration in southeast Melbourne, attended by Mr Albanese as well as relatives of Israeli hostages and those who lost loved ones in the October 7 massacre a year ago.
In an emotional ceremony which often drove many of the audience members to tears, speakers recounted their family’s losses in Israel on October 7 and prayed for the safe release of the hostages still held by Hamas.
No politicians, including Mr Albanese were invited to speak.
The Illuminating October vigil was organised by Zionism Victoria and Habayit, and supported by the Zionist Federation of Australia and the United Israel Appeal.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson were among the dozens of the politicians who attended the event.
Teal MPs Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel also joined the huge procession.
Former premier Daniel Andrews, who now serves as a patron for Labor Friends of Israel, was also in the crowd.
As Mr Albanese sat just metres away from the main stage, Zionism Victoria President Yossi Goldfarb used the platform to criticise the federal government’s foreign policy, claiming it had undermined social cohesion and fostered anti-Semitism.
“We have seen darkness in Australia,” Mr Goldfarb said,
“Darkness underpinned by virulent and dangerous antisemitism that is in the view of our community – simply out of control, a threat to everything that makes our country unique and great.
“There is a permissiveness that has let anti-Semitism fester. A permissiveness encouraged by weak and ambiguous expositions of our foreign policy that in our community’s view have weakened our social cohesion, leaving us to feel that the state of Israel has been abandoned as a natural ally of the Australian people.”
The event was tucked away in a discreet location in Melbourne’s southeast for fear of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. It began with a lantern parade in memory of the victims.
Family and friends of loved ones murdered and taken hostage told their heartbreaking stories as part of the official commemoration.
Senator Paterson told The Australian it was important to attend the event during “the greatest crisis for the Jewish community in Australia”.
“They’ve faced unprecedented anti-Semitism since the 7th of October and what is happening tonight is as much as what is happening overseas,” Senator Paterson said.
“Of course we’re here to remember those who lost their lives, of course we’re here to hear from the hostages. But most importantly, we’re here to make a statement about what’s acceptable and what is not acceptable in our own country.”
