For those of us who work in the news, Sunday is usually a quieter day. Even though Israel gets its week up and running, the rest of the world stays quiet, and so it usually remains throughout the day.
The Jerusalem Post’s newsroom, however, was shaken into action on a scale not usually seen on a Sunday morning when the first reports of an attack in Bondi Beach, Australia, hit our screens.
And “shaken,” in this context, is the right word.
As the news grew more and more grim, from simply an attack at a Hanukkah party to the true scale of the tragedy, with at least 10 people killed and scores wounded, the videos and photos seen were truly graphic.
Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, told the Post, “The Jewish community is in shock. There were 2,000 members of the Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah, lighting the first candle together at Bondi Beach.”
Bondi Beach attack brings back painful memories of 10/7
It reminded many of what they had seen emerging in the early hours of October 7. Bodies strewn across the floor. Screams. Blood everywhere.
This is not to equate October 7 or the Nova festival with what happened today in Bondi. The numbers are not comparable, and October 7 changed the world for Israel and the Jewish Diaspora forever, in ways we cannot even comprehend right now.
However, consider the words of one October 7 survivor who was wounded at Bondi Beach, who stated afterward, “This is a bloodbath. It was an absolute massacre. I saw children falling to the floor. I saw elderly.
“October 7. That’s the last time I saw this. I never thought I would see this in Australia.”
And 2,000 people is no small crowd. They had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, the festival of light. They were not marching for Israel, nor taking part in a political campaign. This was a religious celebration, and Jews were once again left dead on the floor.
The image of Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer and regular Post contributor, should inform anyone who doesn’t know what terror looks like. After being shot at, he shared an image of himself lying, wounded, on the ground, blood covering his hands and arms.
Reminiscent, again, of so many videos and photos shared from Nova and October 7.
It also brought to mind the recent attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur in October, when a man drove a car into pedestrians before stabbing worshipers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, which left two dead.
This time, it seems so much worse.
Simchat Torah. Yom Kippur. Hanukkah. Our religious holidays are no longer safe for Jews to gather and celebrate their festivals worldwide.
Don’t tell Jews that it “it’s anti-Zionism,” not antisemitism. Don’t tell Jews that they shouldn’t feel scared and threatened. Don’t tell Jews how we should trust those in positions of power who can keep Jews alive. Innocent people who went to celebrate Hanukkah have been murdered in cold blood, and the images are once again truly terrifying.