A Sydney rabbi has laid part of the blame for the Bondi massacre at the feet of leaders who failed to act on his warnings in a thunderous address on Tuesday night.
“We begged, ‘shut these demonstrations down, legislate for it, find the legal means’,” Rabbi Nochum Schapiro from North Shore Chabad told a congregation who gathered on Tuesday night to pray and remember those killed.
Rabbi Nochum Schapiro speaking on Tuesday nightCredit: Dylan Coker
“And those who shouted ‘Gas the Jews’, or ‘Where’s the Jews’ – what difference does it make, same vile statements – were not prosecuted, were not stopped, were not sent out of the country. Were allowed to continue with this vile hate. So we ask [politicians] now: legislate.”
Schapiro said he had written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August to share his view that recognising Palestinian statehood would intensify antisemitism and “endanger the safety” of Jews in Australia.
“I didn’t even get a response,” he said. “You cannot disconnect the Jewish people from the Jewish land. The Jewish people and the Jewish land are one,” he said on Tuesday.
“And when you vilify the leaders of the Jewish land of Israel, and when you constantly criticise them and then say that they must give up parts of this land … that endangers Jews everywhere.
“When Israel is criticised, then the way it’s received by the antisemites is that it’s okay to attack Jews.
“You’re going to tell the Prime Minister of Israel how he should fight his war when you couldn’t protect a thousand people on Bondi Beach? You’re going to tell them how to protect 8 million people in the land of Israel?”
Federal MP for Bradfield Nicolette Boele, who attended the event and was emotional throughout, said Rabbi Schapiro had previously spoken to her about the connection between Israel and Jewish identity.
“His perspective is strident, but I completely see where he’s coming from,” she said, adding she had written to the prime minister months ago seeking a response to the special envoys’ respective reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“This is a truly multicultural country. It doesn’t just happen. We have to work at it, and we’ve got to work at it harder now than we’ve ever before.”
Read the full article here
