She was seated next to Victoria’s most senior federal politician, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, while Burns made a point of sitting alongside Basem Abdo, a son of Palestinian refugees who represents Labor in the federal seat of Calwell. Peter Khalil, a Labor MP targeted by Palestinian activists during this year’s federal election campaign, sat quietly a few rows back.
The roll call of Coalition MPs included senators Bridget McKenzie, Sarah Henderson and James Paterson, federal MP Tim Wilson and state MPs Brad Battin, Georgie Crozier, David Southwick and James Newbury.
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At the end of the service, when the menorah was lit and the last prayer sung, Allan exited quickly through a side door, followed by some of her state and federal colleagues. The Liberal MPs, in no hurry to leave, climbed the stage to talk to Rabbi Daniel Rabin, Schachna and community leaders.
Schachna earlier used Hanukkah and the ceremonial lighting of the menorah as a metaphor for what Australian Jews expect from their political leaders.
“For the past two years, the Jewish community has carried an unrelenting weight,” she said. “Hate has been normalised. Extremism has been excused, minimised and rationalised. Words that once shocked are now shouted. Threats that were once unthinkable have now become routine.
“During Hanukkah, the festival of lights, we are reminded that light is not passive. Light clarifies, light demands courage. We need clarity now, crystal clarity. We do not need more statements, we do not need more carefully crafted words.
“We need decisive action from leaders, from institutions, from law enforcement and all who claim to care about the kind of country Australia should be.”
Zionist Federation of Australia chief executive Alon Cassuto said there was no difference, in motivation or ideological outlook, between the Hamas terrorists who rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and the people responsible for Bondi.
The most poignant speech came from Naomi Levin, a Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive who, for the past two years, has patiently and diligently kept open lines of communication between the premier’s office and her community.
Levin’s task was to read through the names of the dead, the 15 Jews murdered at Bondi, providing personal touches about how they lived and who they loved. When she arrived at the name of 10-year-old Matilda, Levin faltered. “I have a 10-year-old daughter,” she explained.
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Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion noted that, at synagogues all over Melbourne’s south-east, people with no connection to Judaism had come to leave flowers, condolences and heartfelt wishes.
“The silent majority are speaking, and they are speaking in support,” he said. “They are saying no, not here, not Australia. I say to the politicians gathered here, listen to the Australian people, to the airwaves, to the talkback. They understand that the attack was not just upon the Jewish community. It was an attack upon Australian values and Western democracy.”
Allan understands this too. But this wasn’t the day or the place for that argument.
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