A must-read article in an Australian national newspaper

Intifada arrives on our shores so spare us shock

Beach massacre a tragic reckoning for a complacent nation
By Yoni Bashan

Now we are all shocked. The progressive activists. The influencers. The Greens. The podcasters. All those influencers and people who spent two years making “Zionist” or “Zio” the dirtiest word in the Australian vocabulary.

Who marched down Oxford Street during the Mardi Gras holding signs reading “Globalise the Intifada”.

Well, congratulations. The Intifada is here.

It arrived on Sunday night, not through some abstract ideological debate, but in blood. A massacre. Gunmen opening fire on civilians. Fifteen dead, at least. Among them, a ten year old child.

The motive? Oh, we do not officially know the motive. But of course we know the motive.

We watched this incubate since October 7, 2023. An anti Jewish rhetoric in the guise of moral outrage, amplified by media critics of a war in the Middle East. Dressed up by the very people now eagerly posting their condolences.

But here is what needs to be said clearly.

The people who spent two years treating Israel as a uniquely evil state. Who made “Zionism” synonymous with racism and slavery and every other moral crime. Who said Zionists should not be platformed, should not have cultural safe spaces, should essentially be burned out of polite society.

Who waved banners reading “From the river to the sea” at rallies, in parliament, and posted them on Instagram stories with little watermelon emojis.

You built this.

You built the foundations, brick by brick, march by march, with your inverted red triangles and your signs bearing the words “Zionists = Nazis”.

What exactly did you think “Intifada” meant?

It means blood. It always meant blood. And now they have brought it here. And now Bondi Beach knows.

Take Nasser Mashni, now sending love, care and solidarity to the Jewish victims. The same Nasser Mashni who for years has led the Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network, who painted Zionism as “settler colonialism” and Jewish supremacy. Who thinks Israel is “the hillbilly of the earth”. Who would bring himself to condemn Hamas as a terrorist group but would stand in solidarity with its cause.

Very moving.

Or Randa Abdel Fattah, author and academic, who is now expressing sadness on social media. The same Randa Abdel Fattah who spent months promoting conspiracy theories about the “Zionist lobby” and claiming genocide while denying or minimizing antisemitism.

Or the Greens.

Shocking.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said: “My thoughts are with the Jewish community.”

The same community whose state she once described as “rogue” and “genocidal”.

Abbie Chatfield called the attack “heartbreaking” and “sickening” despite refusing to platform or condemn antisemitism clearly in the past.

Despite refusing to engage honestly with Jewish concerns for months.

Security committees will be formed. Statements will be released. Words will be chosen carefully.

But words will not be enough.

We have been too many words and not enough action.

Ask yourself this. Has the Albanese government taken any of the serious decisions this situation warrants?

Consider the indisputable record.

Pro Palestinian protesters openly denigrating Jews at the Opera House with calls for the October 7 assault. Firebombings of synagogues and childcare centres. Islamic hate preachers given licence. Radical marches through our capital cities calling for the elimination of Israel and appealing for the globalisation of the intifada.

The harassment of Jewish students and academics at universities. The sabotage of Jewish people in the cultural and artistic sector. The delegitimisation of antisemitism while excusing or explaining it away as Islamophobia.

At each stage, antisemitism seemed normalised among sections of the community.

There are many good Australians. But not enough good people, and not enough influential institutions, stood up.

We are now in a terrible place. Australia needs to reclaim its true character and values.