Until the Black Shabbat of 2023, October 7 was our family’s day of miracles. Like most, I can distinctly recall the unfolding horror of October 7 in realtime. It was Saturday afternoon on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah in my hometown of Melbourne, Australia.
It was also our son’s 21st birthday.
As some 30 of his friends arrived at our makeshift backyard marquee (the remnants of our sukkah), ready for some light refreshments and a toast, a barrage of messages and posts reporting on Hamas rocket fire into Israel swiftly followed. My initial reaction, like that of many others, was “There are always rockets, I am sure it’s nothing.”
How wrong we all were. Those rockets marked the beginning of Hamas’ rampage and a day that ushered in a new era. Israel has since been functioning in trauma mode, left with the choice of retaliating or perishing. And like most Jews in the Diaspora, those in Australia have been living with a shared sense of grief. October 7 and its aftermath have also dismantled our preconceptions about how lucky we are to live in safety and quiet Down Under.
Within days Australia put itself on the map – and not in a good way.
It is hard to forget the loathsome scenes and vile chants that transpired at our country’s most iconic landmark, the Sydney Opera House, within 36 hours of the Hamas massacre. Like many, I was still in shock from the events of October 7, and, naïvely, never imagined that level of bile in our “lucky country.” I was stunned again when these thugs went unpunished.
It’s since been a slippery slope for our law enforcement. Police, who had the capacity to enforce the law regarding protesters as we saw during COVID-19, did no such thing. Protesters thus grew more provocative and intimidating. A weekly siege of demonstrations across our capitals became routine. Most recently, a number of these offered blatant support for Hassan Nasrallah, the assassinated head of Hezbollah – a proscribed terror group in Australia.
It therefore comes as no surprise that there are mass anti-Israel protests planned Australia-wide to commemorate the October 7 violence on its anniversary. How did we get here?
Australia's shocking response
Another certainty crushed by the aftermath of October 7 has been bipartisan support in Australian politics for Israel and its right to self-defense.
I could bemoan how our current government has shown support for the perverse findings of the United Nations’ politicized courts, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ); continuously made lopsided demands on Israel to implement a ceasefire before the goal of degrading Hamas is completed; and now calls for a rigid “timeline” for recognition of Palestinian statehood. The stances seem led by political, not principled, considerations – especially potential votes in heavily Muslim seats.
Given the critical role played by the Australian Labor Party’s Herbert “Doc” Evatt at the UN in passing the 1947 Partition Plan, and that party’s long and proud history of support for Israel’s right to exist in peace and security, this call to recognize a Palestinian state without any obligation to sign a peace deal is a sorry development.
Australia also made a name for itself with the mass doxxing event of some 600 Jewish-Australian creative professionals in February. Names, photos, social media accounts, and workplaces of writers, musicians, and actors were listed, some receiving threats and losing work due to membership in the support group. This online space to share experiences in an unprecedented period of communal pain and grief – of which I too was a listed member – was transformed in the suspicious minds of some into a vast secret Jewish conspiracy.
There is not enough room here to describe the fiascos at Australian university campuses over the last year, and their impact on the next generation. Students had to run a daily, angry gauntlet at most campuses, overrun by anti-Israel activists masked as humanitarian peaceniks.
The failure of leadership by university vice-chancellors rendered campuses unsafe spaces, sending a message to Jewish students that they were a lesser priority.
While I commonly hear about the sense of abandonment felt among fellow Aussie Jews, there are slivers of light.
Just last week there were strident calls for Iran’s ambassador to Australia to be expelled – including from our Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – after his posts on X praising Hassan Nasrallah as a martyr and “remarkable leader.” Dutton – unlike Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – traveled to Israel this year, as did some other public figures such as Indigenous Australian Olympian and former senator Nova Peris.
Campus chaos and student struggles
Personally, I am besieged with emotions, dismayed at my unrecognizable Australia, and angry to admit that I now think twice when leaving home wearing Jewish symbols. This felt starker after I made my way to Israel in June this year. Despite the country fighting a war for its survival, I could fully and openly embrace my Jewish identity there.
And here we are. The world has done another lap around the sun and there are, devastatingly, still 101 hostages held captive in the dungeons of Gaza, my October 7 firstborn turns 22 today, and the Jewish community has entered the “Days of Awe.”
As I left shul on Rosh Hashana after hearing the blowing of the shofar, I contemplated the broken echo of the terua and the haunting call of the tekia gedolah. Similarly, the Jewish world feels shattered right now. Like the mothers of those slain hostages, we often feel like we are screaming into the abyss.
Yet if this year has taught us anything it is that we have no choice but to adapt, have a stronger sense of identity, a thicker skin, an unprecedented focus, and the steadfastness of heart to continue the fight to be both proud Australian Jews and supporters of Israel.
The author is a staff writer and policy analyst at Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), and the mother of two adult children.