Breaking Point: The Bondi Beach Shooting
Will the Bondi Beach massacre be a breaking point for Australia, or a catalyst to remake ourselves as a country?
When two terrorist gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australians witnessed with horror the country’s worst mass shooting since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
At least 15 innocent people have lost their lives. Among the victims, a Holocaust survivor who shielded his wife from the attack.
One of the gunmen was shot dead by police at the scene. The second perpetrator was hospitalised under heavy police guard. The shooting has been classified as an act of terrorism.
The pair have been identified as father and son, 50 year old Sajid and 24 year old Naveed Akram. Shockingly, it’s been revealed Sajid legally held a firearms license and owned six guns, while Naveed was known to ASIO for his links to Islamic State terrorist cells.
As Australians grieve alongside the global Jewish community and struggle to come to terms with this horrific act of evil, one recurring question is: ‘how could something like this happen in Australia?’
The unfortunate answer is that we, more specifically our revolving door of impotent political leaders, allowed it to happen through complacency; by not being more vigilant about the rise of political extremism being imported to Australia, and lacking the backbone to defend our national identity against domestic terrorism on both sides of the spectrum.
Undoubtedly, racial tensions have been brewing in Australia for decades.
This year marks 20 years since the Cronulla race riots, one of our nation’s most disgraceful displays of public violence. In the years since, little has been done by any sitting government to close the cultural divide between disparate racial and religious groups that have been forced to coexist.
Cronulla riots in 2005.
For the majority of moderate Australians, the everyday folk who dutifully go about their business without bothering anyone else, there’s no room in our mixed society for extreme views at either end of the political scale. Nevertheless, the seeds of extremism have been able to take root and flourish, transplanting these ideals into Australian culture.
Antisemitism didn’t die with Hitler; it festered for decades on the fringes of Western political thought, waiting for the right time to rear its ugly head again, which is what is happening now. But the hatred between Arabs and Jews is a conflict as old as time itself, and this latest attack is another bloody chapter in an endless generational war. A war that does not belong here.
The Australian government, particularly Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have been criticised for taking a soft stance against antisemitism and ignoring obvious warning signs about imminent threats to the Australian Jewish community. Attacks against Jews in Australia have increased in recent years, from antisemitic graffiti and harassment to the firebombing of synagogues.
Apparently, Australia is no longer safe from the global intifada so desired by Islamic extremists.
Contrary to what many Americans are commenting, our government didn’t make its citizens unsafe by disarming us of our guns; they made us unsafe by opening the door to violent political ideals and religious zealots. They did nothing to stem the tide of heavily pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rhetoric of extreme Islam that has become one of the most socially divisive issues in modern Australia.
We, like other western countries, have welcomed people who do not belong here – not because of their skin colour or where they come, but because they harbour hatred towards our way of life. People who choose violence and retribution over peace and reconciliation, those that would rather see the world burn than bloom. They don’t come to better our society but to erode it.
By and large, most Australians judge each other on the quality of their character rather than race, ethnicity, or religion. If you work hard, take care of your family and generally don’t be a dickhead, that’s what counts. We’re by no means perfect, but Australia is the place where to come to swim at a world class beach, not die on it.
This vile hatred has no place here. Antisemitism, Nazism, Islamophobia, white nationalism, intifada – have we truly lost the ideal of what it means to be an Australian citizen?
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It will be how we as a people, as Australians, react in the coming weeks that will define our national character.
This is not a call to arms, nor a criticism of Australia’s treasured migrant community who come from all over the world, contributing to our rich and vibrant cultural tapestry. This is a call to humanity, to allowing reason and common sense to prevail over prejudice.
Otherwise-moderate thinking Australians may feel their convictions compromised or loyalties called into question and be lured into prejudice. Don’t let this atrocity radicalise you. Resist against blind reaction and don’t allow yourself to be swayed by the misinformation that is already spreading, claiming this was a staged false-flag operation by Israel.
We cannot let the Bondi massacre break us and divide this country even more. We need to remake ourselves as Australians, stop separating from each other by our arbitrary differences, and reclaim some semblance of unity so we stand a chance to protect what makes Australia great.
If you need a hero, look to the countless police, paramedics, lifeguards, and everyday Australians who risked their lives to protect others. Being a true Australian isn’t about colour, it’s about character.
