CPAC Insider

There comes a moment when leadership is tested not by what is said, but by what has been tolerated.

What happened at Bondi was not an isolated act of hatred. It was the point at which two years of weak messaging from our leadership finally met reality. A line has now been drawn in the sand at Bondi, not by politicians, but by the Australian community that has witnessed an escalation in antisemitism while those in a position to strongly condemn it, looked away. 

Since the October 7 attacks, Australia has experienced an unprecedented wave of antisemitic incidents. Some have been horrifying and impossible to ignore, synagogues attacked, bombs planted, and now a mass-casualty attack at a public Jewish gathering. But alongside these devastating events, have been relentless smaller acts of bigotry and hatred: threats, intimidation, abuse, vandalism, and harassment. Thousands of incidents which have become part of daily life for Jewish Australians.

This did not happen in a vacuum.

In the weeks and months after October 7, large pro-Palestinian marches were allowed to proceed where language crossed from protest into incitement. At the Sydney Opera House, just days after the massacre in Israel, crowds were heard chanting “where’s the Jews” and “gas the Jews”. Police were present, yet the protesters were allowed to continue with little condemnation from our Federal government and no consequences.

Australia already has laws against incitement and hate speech. But in the face of public slogans like “f* the Jews” they were not enforced. They were not enforced when people held up signs that accused Zionists of being neo-Nazis, and when there were calls for a “global intifada”. They were not enforced when over 600 Jewish creatives and academics were doxxed, they were not enforced on university campuses when activists entered lecture theatres chanting “Jews not allowed”, and they were not enforced when a Jewish academic was accosted in his office, verbally attacked and accused of being “guilty of genocide". 

Instead our leaders contented themselves with carefully balanced statements that antisemitism has “no place in Australia”, while avoiding the harder task of calling out specific behaviour and specific movements.

We’ve seen something similar play out during COVID. Black Lives Matter marches were rubber-stamped during lockdowns, while other protests were shut down with force. The unspoken message is clear - some causes would be indulged, and others suppressed. The same indulgence has been evident here. 

Even acknowledgement of a Palestinian State, coming as it did at a crucial and sensitive moment during peace talk negotiations - whatever the diplomatic intent - was received by some as a political signal, a licence to attack at a time when antisemitic intimidation was already well underway. 

Words matter, silence also matters, but courage matters most. Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong, Tony Burke, and the entire Labor government have failed us through a woeful lack of courage. Bondi has now forced a reckoning. It should mark the end of us accepting glib statements from mealy-mouthed politicians and the beginning of decisive action.

You love your country, make your voice heard... loudly! It's time to take back what it means to be "Australian" from those who wish to destroy it.

Yours in liberty,

Andrew Cooper
Founder & National Director
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