Opinion: Tragedy and trauma but nation can recover

By Mark Kenny

A version of this article was originally published by The Canberra Times.

One week ago, Jews everywhere learned that even in the world's most diverse and tolerant society, they were not beyond the deadly reach of anti-Semitism.

For this, there is much shame to go around.

But there is no shortage of shamelessness either.

Take for example the Liberal Party MPs who attempted to remove section 18C from the Racial Discrimination Act in the interests of free speech, when last in office. Seamlessly, they have now staked out the moral high-ground against hate speech and vilification.

So complete is their conversion, that the government's move to tighten gun laws was immediately dismissed as a "distraction". This, despite the fact that the shooters relied on a small suburban arsenal of high-powered long-arms and quite a lot of ammunition - all legally held.

Amid heartfelt demands for action over words, cutting firearm numbers goes directly to a core logistical element of this attack.

After the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, then opposition leader, Kim Beazley, offered John Howard support for whatever measures were necessary. Sussan Ley initially pulled the same rein, but within 24 hours, the opposition had switched to blame and attack mode.

Never had national tragedy so brazenly been turned to political advantage.

I spoke to a Jewish friend who is thoughtful, analytical, and unfailingly decent. He said he would speak but would prefer not to have his name published, given the profound grief and injury among Jews at present.

I have decided to bring you his thoughts because they offer a nuanced interpretation which has been lost amid the absolutism of current reporting. We spoke by phone and he subsequently provided more thoughts by email.

Of course, I wanted to know his perspective on what had taken place at Bondi and whether the Prime Minister and NSW Premier were off track on gun laws.

He told me guns weren't the central problem, anti-Semitism was, but neither were they merely a side issue.

"Guns were critical to the savagery of the Bondi massacre. If we deal with guns, casualties will be cut. As NSW Premier Minns said, we have to deal with all the factors. Guns are not an equal part of the main game, but tighter gun control will save lives. Cheap political points don't."

Despite what he called the "horror at Bondi", he said Australia remained "a great country", albeit, with deep divisions.

"I know if I wore a yarmulke on the streets, I would get curses. Very unpleasant or worse. That is what Muslims, especially women, got after 9/11 - and still get today. So, there is nothing new here. But today, Australia has Muslim heroes. Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim Australian man who disarmed the gunman - he is today's real Australian."

For my friend though, a key element of the post-attack debate has been left deliberately unsaid, and this is where it gets tricky.

"The baseline, raw, revolting anti-Semitism that existed in Australia in 2023 was on display at the Opera House rally right after October 7 and before Israel invaded Gaza. That ugliness was the sentiment expressed by those there who simply hate Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish state, and Jews supporting Israel. They expressed this hatred even though 1200 innocents were killed. In and of itself, that revealed a fundamental underlying existence of some people in this country with a deep hatred of Jews.

"But anti-Semitism in Australia metastasized as the Gaza war resulted in the destruction of Gaza with 70,000 dead, and tens of thousands wounded, maimed and suffering grievously."

He said the influence of Gaza was being deliberately ignored in the current debate and that it was how the government of Benjamin Netanyahu had prosecuted the war that had "tilted public opinion here and around the world decisively against Israel".

"Most Australians are against what Israel is doing in Gaza. Today's anti-Semitic terror cohorts in Australia are armed with added hate because of Gaza, and they act on vengeance for Gaza."

These comments will indeed be confronting against the bottomless grief of such appalling brutality as was unleashed in Sydney last week, but they come from a thoughtful Jewish man and are likely to be shared by others.

I asked him what was needed now. First, he called for "a long-term effort in education and culture" while acknowledging that would take time.

The other change however, is urgent "if Jewish lives are to be saved".

"The police and security services have huge blind spots two years after the anti-Semitic Opera House debacle. No one stopped the marching of Nazis in front of the NSW Parliament on Macquarie Street. Those images cannot be erased. A terrible lapse."

One of several it seems given the terror alert level was set at "probable".

Did he agree that our social and political fabric was rent and perhaps incapable of even identifying a unified national purpose?

"I think Australia will, over time, get stronger from this trauma, just as it did after Port Arthur, the Bali bombings, the Lindt café siege," he said.

"We got stronger even though the pain endures."

Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute and host of the Democracy Sausage podcast.