00:02Commissioner Virginia Bell will continue to hear the experiences of Jewish Australians
00:08and how anti-Semitism continues to impact their everyday lives.
00:13Today we're expecting to hear from Melbourne school principal Jeremy Stove-Linder.
00:18He's previously told the ABC that he actually was not surprised by the Bondi Beach terrorist
00:25attack which left 15 people dead at a Hanukkah event in Sydney late last year.
00:32He said since the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel in 2023, he had noticed a real increase
00:41in anti-Semitism within the community.
00:44We're also expected to hear from the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Jury, Peter Werthine,
00:50as well as journalist and human rights advocate Dr Vic Al-Hadef.
00:54There are some people who are presenting as witnesses who are doing that under a suppression
01:03order.
01:03That's because they are just so worried about their safety and security in the wake of the
01:10Bondi Beach terrorist attack.
01:12And what did we hear yesterday?
01:17Gemma, yesterday we similarly heard the stories of Jewish Australians talking about the rise
01:24of anti-Semitism.
01:25One woman was detailing how she had to explain to her son what an anti-Semitic slur meant after
01:34it was graffitied at his school and she said she was absolutely horrified by that.
01:39We also heard from a Holocaust survivor who detailed how he'd escaped the anti-Semitism in Europe
01:47after World War, after the Second World War, came to Australia thinking that it was a safe
01:52place.
01:53In recent years, just because of the rise in anti-Semitism in the community, he is now too
01:59scared to wear his Star of David out in public.
02:02And he said that should be a real cause for concern.
02:06We also heard from Shana Goodnick.
02:09She is the daughter of Reuven Morrison, who was murdered at the Bondi Beach, or allegedly
02:15murdered at the Bondi Beach terrorist attack.
02:18He actually tried to throw a brick, or he threw a brick at those attackers.
02:23And she detailed how her life had changed so much since that event.
02:28She's actually been the subject of hundreds of comments online saying that she should have
02:33also been killed in those attacks.
02:36And this is what she had to say yesterday.
02:39It's incredibly important, not just for the Commission, to understand what has been going
02:44on, but for every regular Australian to realise what an impact anti-Semitism has had on our
02:51lives, on our lives as community members, on our lives as parents, what children have to
02:57live through on a daily basis, solely for the reason that they have been born into the wonderful,
03:03beautiful Jewish heritage.
03:06This two-week block of hearings will continue to investigate the nature of anti-Semitism,
03:13and particularly how it's reported within our society and measured.
03:18Then there'll be a couple of more sets of hearings before Commissioner Virginia Bell has
03:23to hand down her final report.
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