00:00Last night, armed gunmen shot and killed at least twelve innocent people, men, women, children, in Bondi, opening fire at a Hanukkah celebration on the beach.
00:19My little girl and I were out on our balcony. We live less than a kilometre away and heard the gunshots. Came inside and, of course, then started to see the videos flooding through of what was occurring. It was an active shooting situation for, to be honest with you, it felt like a long time.
00:38Every bit of prayer, every ounce of love within me is being directed to all of those impacted. And not just those who have lost their lives or have lost family members, but the entire community here, particularly in the eastern suburbs in Sydney, it's a very large Jewish community, even though by comparison to others, it's very small.
01:02But a lot of Australia's Jewish community live in this area. I'd say shock is an overwhelming feeling or emotion right now, but not surprise. I'd be lying if I said that, that I was surprised by what had occurred. It doesn't mean I'm not deeply rattled by it or terrified, to be honest, but not surprised.
01:25When you allow the kind of hate that has existed in this country, and not just existed, because if it had just existed under the surface and this mass shooting was, oh my Lord, we had no idea this existed in Australia, you could say, okay, well, what could we have done?
01:40But this kind of hate has allowed to be public and to go unchecked since October 7, two days after the largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust occurred in Israel by Hamas terrorists, funded by, of course, all those great nations around the world that we seem to treat as though they are allies.
01:57We had people in this country, in Australia, celebrate on the steps of the Opera House. They cheered, they called for more destruction against Jewish people. They laughed, they smiled, they sang. And that's when I knew we had a problem.
02:10The nation determines who it is and what it stands for in moments like that. And we failed miserably, miserably. From a leadership perspective, absolutely. From a law enforcement perspective, yes. But from an everyday Australian perspective, too.
02:24And I think that's the element that terrified me the most in that. I didn't for a second think that that celebration of terror would be allowed to pass without the silent majority putting their silence to the side momentarily and coming out and ensuring the world knew and this country knew that that is not who we are. But that never came.
02:42And then we saw incident after incident after incident. We saw synagogues firebombed, cars set alight, kids attacked, going to Jewish schools, graffiti that made you feel sick to your stomach, the kind of words that wouldn't have looked out of place during the 1930s.
02:56And those of us who stood and who publicly went into bat for this incredible community were annihilated for it in so many ways. None of which matter, by the way, given what's occurred.
03:09But it's important to note because what it did, it ensured that those who were maybe thinking about it, those who wanted to speak up, those who felt solidarity with this community, those who believed their values aligned with this community and not the murderous terrorists, were scared into silence.
03:26So it ensured that there were far too few voices. We need to protect this community.
03:31When I first saw the images starting to come through after we heard the gunshots and came inside, I assumed the two men in black that I was watching on a bridge shooting were police because they looked so calm and calculated.
03:44It didn't look like these were people who were scared. And I think that's one of the most terrifying elements of this.
03:50And when you look at the kinds of people who do this kind of thing, often they don't appear scared because something in their mind or how they have been raised or the ideology they subscribe to comforts them into believing that they are doing good.
04:04I can say this, they are the greatest cowards I have ever seen in my life and I've seen a lot of cowardice.
04:10You tell me what is brave or what is martyr like about grown men with shotguns on a bridge looking down on unarmed, defenceless, innocent civilians, men, women and children celebrating their faith and a hell of a lot of others who weren't cowards ducking behind concrete.
04:31Well, I tell you who didn't have concrete to hide behind, the people they slaughtered in a park celebrating their faith.
04:39I get so many messages and I have since October 7 from people, people I know.
04:44What's with this whole Jewish thing? It's so weird.
04:46Why are you so obsessed with talking about Israel and Jews?
04:50And it's not even a big deal. It is a big deal.
04:53And it's the same reason I stand for any community that is under threat, particularly from terrorists who do this kind of filth.
05:01Again, I've said since October 7, people think this is far away.
05:05They think it doesn't impact them if they're not Jewish.
05:08It does.
05:09I used to say when they drive a car into a Christmas market in Europe, do you think the kinds of people who subscribe to this ideology are checking if you are Jewish, if you are Christian, if you are Hindu, if you are Muslim?
05:23No, they just want to kill and they want to destroy.
05:27Bondi Beach is, it is a melting pot of diversity.
05:30And these scumbags, yes, they were aiming at Jews.
05:34But do you think everyone else in one day was safe?
05:36No. Hell no.
05:38And if this is not a wake-up call to everyday Australians who have hidden from this issue because it's easier, then I don't know what will be.
05:45No one is asking you to become a public face fighting this.
05:48I've chosen to do that.
05:50I made a conscious decision to do that.
05:52What I'm asking you to do is stand in your own way against this kind of hate.
05:58Stand with the Australian Jewish community who have contributed immensely to this country and do not deserve this and never will.
06:05And if my country can't look at what happened in Bondi yesterday and determine once and for all whose side they are on, and yes, this is about sides.
06:16This is good versus evil.
06:18There is no caveat here.
06:20There is no context.
06:22This is good versus evil.
06:23If my country cannot determine now, without any doubt, which side they stand with, then we are completely screwed, if we aren't already.
06:35And all those who either remained silent when they've stood for every other minority group, or even worse, those who have encouraged and emboldened the kind of hate that leads to what we have seen here, hang your heads in shame.
06:47So, where to from here?
06:50Hmm.
06:51I think it's too early to say where to from here.
06:53But I know without any hesitation that life in this country has changed entirely.
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