We Australian Jews are not responsible for Israel’s actions. Please stand up for us

May 13, 2026 — 7:00pm

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“They came to kill us; we just weren’t there.” – Dina.

These words of testimony at the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion alarmingly and accurately describe how Jews feel about the Bondi massacre.

We, Jewish Australians, know that any of us could have been a target that day when 15 Australians were murdered.

Yet even I, a Jewish advocate fighting antisemitism, was unaware of the pervasive extent of this virus in everyday life in Australia.

I expect that means you are too.

Not because you necessarily don’t care, but because much of it, despite being profoundly distressing, is not headline news the way a terrorist attack is.

Listening to those who gave evidence in the first few days of the royal commission has been an eye-opener, in the most disturbing way.

A woman working in a global company who was asked to change her name on communications as it was “too Jewish”, a father who calls his wife to say “I love you” before every community security shift, a mother who reminds her children to wear comfortable shoes to synagogue lest they need to flee.........

© Brisbane Times