The horrific terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, which targeted Jewish people celebrating a festival, has forced a profound and painful national reckoning. For Jewish Australians, the incident represents the chilling realisation of a long-feared nightmare, fundamentally altering their sense of security and belonging in a country they have long called home.
A Lost Sense of Safety
Dean Sherr, a writer and former adviser to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, articulates a seismic shift in the lived experience of being Jewish in Australia. He recalls a childhood defined by community, culture, and a relative lack of immediate threat. While antisemitism was studied as a historical tragedy, contemporary Australia felt like a safe harbour—"the lucky country" where synagogues and schools might need security, but deadly violence was something that happened overseas.
That perception has been shattered over the past 26 months. Sherr describes a disturbing escalation: synagogues and Jewish businesses have been defaced and firebombed, individuals have been doxed and ostracised, and antisemitic rhetoric has dominated political discourse. The attack at Bondi is not an isolated incident but the peak of a terrifying trend witnessed globally, from Manchester to Berlin. Yet its occurrence on Australian soil marks a devastating turning point.
Beyond Condemnation: The Need for Concrete Action
In the 24 hours following the massacre, Sherr notes an outpouring of solidarity from non-Jewish friends and colleagues, moving him to tears. However, he stresses that condemnation, while necessary, is insufficient. "We need the condemnation, and the solidarity, but we also need action," he writes. This action must come not only from governments and security agencies but from every citizen.
It requires a societal commitment to call out antisemitism whenever it appears, to refuse to diminish or deny it, and to acknowledge it as a persistent and real threat. Sherr, whose own family found refuge in Australia from European persecution, warns that the fraying of social cohesion and declining public support for multiculturalism poses a danger to every community. "If Jewish people aren't safe in Australia, none of us are," he states, highlighting that the forces of right-wing populism threatening social fabric abroad must not be allowed to succeed here.
Restoring the Australia We Knew
The immediate consequence of the attack is a deep-seated fear. Attending Jewish events will no longer feel innocently safe. The community's traditional response of proud defiance is now fraught with the tangible risk of violence. Sherr reveals that many Jewish Australians are now seriously considering leaving the country, a prospect he finds devastating. "This is our home, where we belong, or at least where so many once felt that they belonged."
He acknowledges there is no quick fix for the hatred that fuelled the Bondi attack. Yet, he retains a core belief in the Australian people. The shared horror felt across the nation can, he argues, be a catalyst. "If that horror can be turned into unity and action, I truly believe we can restore the Australia I grew up in," Sherr concludes—an Australia defined by its diversity, tolerance, and the safety it once promised to all.
