Bondi Ran Red. The Government Stayed Beige — the Press Office Barely Flinched |
Bondi Beach is where you go to remember the world can be soft.
Sand. Salt. That smug blue ocean that looks like a screensaver for people who still believe in “normal”.
Tonight, the beach became a slaughterhouse at a Jewish public Hanukkah event — Chanukah by the Sea. Reports say 12 people are dead (including one of the attackers) and dozens are injured, including police officers who were rushed into surgery.
And because we are now living in the era of recurring nightmares, the first response from the state wasn’t thunder. It was admin.
“Aware.”
“An active security situation.”
“Follow updates.”
Aware — like the government has noticed a suspicious pothole. Like, there’s been a minor spill in aisle five. Like Jewish blood is an inconvenience, they’ll mop up once the cameras leave.
Not horrified. Not shattered. Not gutted. Not sick with grief for Jewish citizens who turned up to celebrate a holiday and got hunted.
Just… aware.
It looks like parents grabbing children and running, with nowhere to run because it’s a beach and the horizon doesn’t offer cover.
It looks like emergency sirens slicing through the sound of waves — the ocean doing its usual thing while humans do their worst.
It looks like a country with strict gun laws learning, the hard way, that laws are paper and hate is creative.
Authorities are describing it as terrorism. One attacker is reportedly dead at the scene. Another is reportedly in custody, critically injured. There are also reports of suspicious items and possible explosive devices connected to the suspects.
That is not “an incident”.
That is a message — written in bullets and fear — that Jews don’t get to exist in public without consequence.
There’s a detail that should tattoo itself onto every press conference podium:
A bystander tackled and........