‘Never again’ vow as community remembers terror attack
Solemn vigils and rallies decrying anti-Semitism are being held across Australia to mark the first anniversary of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Rally against anti-Semitism at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, October 7, 2024. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
The Jewish community and Australian leaders have vowed “never again” as they remember those killed during the deadly terror attack against their people in decades.
Designated terror group Hamas killed about 1200 people and took a further 250 hostage on October 7, 2023, according to Israel.
Since then, there has been a massive spike in anti-Semitism across Australia, Jewish leaders say.
Jewish man Frank Selch says it’s important to remember the victims of October 7 and denounce anti-Semitism, saying decent people need to take a stand against atrocities.
“It’s important for all of us to come out and take a stand today … it’s something that no decent human being should ever condone, give any kind of excuse for,” he told AAP at a rally outside Parliament House on Monday.
Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott said the Jewish people deserved a state of their own to be safe in after suffering a long history of persecution.
Mr Abbott said the community grieved and remembered those killed in the attacks and the hostages who remained captive, before praising Israel’s response.
“October 7, the worst catastrophe to befall Jewish people since the Holocaust, a day of infamy where the killers did not just kill, but they exalted in their killing,” he told the rally.
“”Even the Nazis tried to hide what they did, but these murderers revelled and exalted and posted on social media, that’s why it is absolutely right that these murderers and the organisations which put them to it should be utterly destroyed,” he said.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said every day over the past year had been painful.
“In days of grief, we usually come together because our strength is in our unity,” he said.
Reflecting on the deadliest terror attack against Jews since the Holocaust, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said putting the events behind him was impossible when hostages remained prisoners of Hamas.
In a recorded message, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mourned the loss of innocent life while denouncing a reported increase in anti-Semitism since the attack.
“Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day and as a nation we say, never again,” he said.
Pro-Palestinian vigils and rallies drew condemnation from Jewish groups, which argue it’s insensitive but organisers and attendees say they’re also marking the loss of innocent life following Israel’s year-long war in Gaza.
Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns asked for his community to have space and time “to reflect and to mourn and to mark the loss of life, of family, of friends, of innocent people”, but urged empathy towards others.
“Grief is not a competition, this conflict hurts, it hurts people across many different communities,” he told ABC radio.
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