The reactions to the Bondi Beach terrorist attack has shown how racist many posters are here.

[TheTamerShrew]

I’m posting because I’m struggling with how racism against Jews is being talked about here following the recent terrorist attack in Australia. What I’ve seen, again and again, is minimisation: it wasn’t really about Jews, it was more complicated than that, let’s not jump to conclusions, other groups have it worse. All the familiar caveats come out remarkably quickly when the victims are Jewish.

I want to say clearly: racism against Jews is racism. Full stop. It doesn’t become less serious because it’s uncomfortable, politically inconvenient, or doesn’t fit neatly into how some people understand racism. And it doesn’t need to compete with other forms of racism to be real or worthy of being named.

What I find particularly painful is how often antisemitism is explained away rather than confronted. We would rightly challenge this pattern if it happened after an attack on almost any other minority group. Yet when Jews are targeted, there seems to be an urge to dilute, reframe, or downplay what’s happened.
I’d really ask people to pause and self-reflect on why that might be.

Why does naming antisemitism feel harder?
Why is there a rush to qualify it, contextualise it out of existence, or deny it altogether?
Why is Jewish fear so often treated as oversensitivity rather than a rational response to a long and very real history?

Acknowledging racism is not an accusation against everyone else. It’s the first, necessary step in confronting it. If we can’t even name antisemitism when it’s staring us in the face, we have no chance of challenging it, let alone preventing it.

We don’t make the world safer by minimising hatred. We make it safer by recognising it honestly, even when that recognition makes us uncomfortable.

I hope this can be read in the spirit it’s intended: not to shut down discussion, but to ask people to explore and self reflect.

See the attached photo: in order to become Anti-racist, one needs to first acknowledge racism

I never claimed it was a coherent ideology. I think it sort of goes without saying that anyone who thinks it is a proportionate or helpful response to murder children because somewhere children are being murdered isn't going to win any prizes for critical thinking. And of course there is a lot of anti-semitism within radical Islam that does not require much in the way of 'provocation'.

You still seem to be labouring under the misapprehension I am here justifying the mindset that led to these atrocities, when in fact I am simply explaining it (as I see it). For the sake - AGAIN - of total clarity, I do not justify it. It is not justifiable. Religious and racial hatred and murder never is.

The attack in Australia was racist. Out and out racism.

I believe in both the existence of the state of Israel, and its right to exist - but not the occupation of Palestinian land, and I struggle with the idea that Jewish people 'need' their own land more than any other group of people - whether that's because of race, religion, or the pure luck of being born on a particular rock.

What the world needs is to chill the fuck out.

I'm sorry your community is under attack right now.

Sorry, i haven’t RTFT. But I wanted to comment because whilst I’m not Jewish, I am Australian, from Sydney (living in UK). I know people who were nearby and know of others who were at the Chanukah event. My heart is broken for those who have lost loved ones (I can’t get Matilda’s smiling face out of my head), for the Jewish community and for Sydney as a whole.

I was distressed this morning to see an Instagram post from The Guilty Feminist which I believe to be antisemitic, criticising widespread reporting of and discussion of the attack and labelling it a ‘PR opportunity’, being used to push anti-Arab fear. Has anyone else seen it?

So much wrong with the whole post that I don’t know where to begin. I will say though that i personally haven’t seen any ‘anti-Arab fear’ resulting from this in mainstream media / my social media feeds. Instead, I’ve seen lots of coverage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim Australian from Syria who risked his own life to disarm the attacker. An incredibly brave, selfless man. Give him every single medal.

We don't make the world safer by minimising hatred... is a great statement op and I know people who find it politically inconvenient as you say for hate crimes to be rising, but they are and denying it is not helpful. What happened yesterday was awful. I am striving not to deny or diminish anything happening in the world right now to any group of people.

The attackers were Pakistani.
Pakistan's state sponsorship of terror- since the days of Osama- has been continuously overlooked by the West and it will come home to roost.
It's not Islamophobic to say that.

What do you mean you believe in the existence of the State of Israel? It's not a belief system, it's not a unicorn, it's reality. It tangibly and empirically exists.
And I don't think Jews care if you think they need their own land. No one gave it to them (depsite the myths). They fought for it. And maybe if the world had just left the Jews to be and live their own lives instead of persecuting, oppresing, expelling and murdering them as a hated minority for two thousand years, there wouldn't have even been a need for Jews to ahve their own state.
Bondi Beach goes to show exactly why Jews need Israel.

Not sure pro-Israel in that short, it’s only 3 letters shorter.

The people calling Palestinians ‘Pals’ are not doing so in good faith.

If someone used that term here to describe someone it would (rightfully) be deleted.

We should extend the courtesy to Palestinians with ‘pal’.

Yep. Already coming home to roost. But what can we do about it? Hopefully a change in government might help resolve the issue here in the UK, or at least bring it under control. But not sure how many more attacks we’re going to have to endure until that time…. The UK is becoming a very scary place to live, and I’m so angry with previous governments for allowing this untenable situation we’re now in to develop. I feel so sorry for our Jewish communities who have lived amongst us for decades, peacefully, and now due to the actions of successive governments, they’re now unable to live their lives without looking over their shoulders.

I understand that. You're not just justifying it but trying to blame it on Gaza and israel. Because some Muslims feel that it's their family being attacked and feel th eneed to retaliate.
So my question is - why has no Buddhist temple been attacked by Muslim extremists in the UK? Why has no Russian Orthodox church been attacked in Australia? They would be veyr easy targets. Unlike Jewish events, they have no need for security....
If it is Muslims been attacked by non-Muslims which is the cause, then surely one would expect some kind of, say, anti-Buddhist violence because of the Rohingya genocide?

I can say from my experience that many Pakistanis in the UK are insanely anti-semtici. Not all of course, it's a big community, but it's a massive problem.

This

Huge problem. I live in an area where the demographic is high. I’ve yet to hear one that isn’t anti-semetic sadly.

I am explicitly NOT justifying it or blaming it on the war in Gaza. I am explaining the thought process that leads up to it, not supporting it. In fact I am explicitly condemning it. Why you are struggling to understand this I can only guess. Maybe wipe the froth off your screen and read the words I have written, instead of arguing with the Nazi in your head?

Because the kind of muslims who go from "My Ummah is being attacked" to committing violence are, by definition, the nasty ones, and the nasty ones are more likely to hold other nastier prejudices more common in their community and indeed the world at large e.g. anti-semitism, so are far more likely to get themselves worked up if Jews are the perceived enemy than anyone else.

In the same way that most Muslims probably disapprove of their teenage daughters having pre-marital sex, but the nasty ones are more likely to be misogynistic and the really nasty ones might be moved to so called 'honour killing'. Acknowledging this does not in any way blame the teenage victim, does it?

I had one British guy of Pakistani origin tell me that israel did 9/11 and that Jews control America and another person of same background that Jews have been kicked out of 100 countries so maybe they are the ones who have a problem and are poisonous.
Both educated people and 2gen immigrants from Pakistan.

Ok feel free to call us pro Is (or pro Raels if you prefer)

Though again, no one on these boards is calling Palestinians "Pals" (to my knowledge) only their supporters as pro Pals.

This is where all senior faith leaders, schools, universities and governments need to educate our communities and work together to stop antisemitism rather than be part of the problem. I can’t see anything changing which means that more antisemitic attacks are inevitable.

Are you equally as scathing about the consistent deliberate misspelling of ' isreal '? If you go to the citme board it's particularly prevalent, but if you call it out the good ole ' dyslexia' excuse is wheeled out. Abhorrent isn't it?

I was responding to the poster: "I am a Zionist. I wasn’t when young, but I am now, and increasingly so. It just means the belief in the existence of the state of Israel."

If you read my post, I say yes, I believe Israel exists, and also has a right to exist.

The land was absolutely given to the Jewish people. It's a matter of historical record - there was no state of Israel on 13 May 1948, the land was Palestinian under British control. (Side note - Britain's behaviour in the decades leading up to the creation of the state of Israel was abysmal).

But none of the history of anything, justifies what happened in Australia this weekend. Nor do we know if even the terrorists are trying to use it as justification.

Well said, agree completely. It’s awful.

Ignoring the rudeness, blaming it on the war in Gaza is exactly what you are doing.As these people apparently believe their ummah is being attacked.

But why is this Ummah not being attacked in Myanmar and Syria when it actually is? Is there an ummah hierarchy?

I've already explained. These people are hateful and nuts, that's why they kill people. But even a hateful nutter thinks they are justified, and this is the basis on which they justify it TO THEMSELVES. Apologies if you find me rude but I find it rude to continue to say I am doing something I categorically am not doing.

Also the most cursory Google indicates Islamic charities and relief organisations with longstanding campaigns in support of the Rohingya, the Uighurs and other persecuted Muslim groups around the world. The Ummah is a real concept in Islam which most Muslims take seriously. It is only the radicalised whose bigotry leads to this 'hierarchy' of which you speak, largely based on the fact they hate Jews far more than Buddhists or Communists.

Thanks. The Independent Albanese line below seems to be misleading.

This really is eye opening! Why are people who are of the Jewish faith routinely robbed of their nationality?
if someone is born in the U.K. they are automatically a citizen.
if someone is born in Australia they are automatically a citizen.
this is known commonly by everyone, since when does religion suddenly become someone’s nationality?
Israel, Palestine and Gaza bare no place in the discussion about Australian families being attacked! , yes they were Jewish, yes that’s why they were targeted but they were Australian! 😡