‘The core value of our religion is peace’ - Déise’s Jewish community reflects on Bondi impact
“I have Jewish cousins in Sydney. We’ve heard detailed things – the people who have been lost, the people who have been injured... It’s intensely upsetting.”
The Bondi Beach shooting, which took place on December 14 in Sydney, Australia, is one of a number of antisemitic attacks around the world in recent months. The Bondi Beach shooting occurred during a Hanukkah celebration attended by approximately one thousand people. The Waterford News & Star spoke to a Jewish person from Waterford who has family in Sydney. They requested their identity to be kept anonymous.
“I have Jewish cousins in Sydney,” our interviewee said. “We’ve heard detailed things – the people who have been lost, the people who have been injured. A two-month-old baby had a shrapnel wound to his leg, and he’s the son of one of the two rabbis who were murdered at the scene. It’s intensely upsetting.” The Bondi Beach shooting was the second antisemitic attack to occur in recent months. On October 2, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, worshippers were attacked outside of a synagogue in Manchester.
“I feel nervous a lot of the time,” the interviewee said, explaining that they have stopped wearing their Star of David, something they said many other Jewish people had also done.
The Jewish community is one of the smallest religious groupings in Waterford - as of the 2022 Census there were only 24 Jewish people registered living in Waterford.
The interviewee said they connected online with a Jewish woman who had emigrated from her country to Waterford due to antisemitism. The woman’s mother was a holocaust survivor, and a book was written on her experiences.
Our interviewee met with her for coffee, and the woman showed them the book, which had an obvious Jewish symbol on the cover. They started to feel worried that someone would pass by and say something, due to the connection Jewish people have with Israel.
Our interviewee keeps their Jewish faith private. They had elderly neighbours, and they visited them as they were housebound.
“In that sort of situation, you’re in one's kitchen, and the television is on in the corner. The news comes on, and it posts statistics from Gaza... You’re desperately hoping that the person isn’t listening to the news too hard and isn’t going to say something derogatory.” The statistics our interviewee is referring to are regarding the conflict in Palestine. Roughly 70,000 Palestinians have died during this conflict, over 20,000 being children. Gazans are also experiencing a famine as food and humanitarian aid has been blocked from entry by Israel; according to the U.N.’s children agency, a shocking amount of Gazan children are acutely malnourished. Around 1,200 Israelis have died during this conflict. These figures begin on October 7, 2023. Jewish people maintain that antisemitism has increased as a result, due to the connections Jewish people hold with Israel.
“We must not allow our light to be dimmed; we must continue to shine and feel the core value of our religion, which is peace. One thing, if nobody knew anything else about Judaism, is that we believe that the image of God is in every single human being. We’re trying not let the shock and upset get us down... Jewish people have a very long history of having to regain their trust in God because of terrible events.” The interviewee wanted to share a message with the public. “Jewish people are living all around the place. You don’t know who they are, but their religion holds the same views as Christianity. We are desirers of peace and harmony among all the people; that is what we’d love to see.”
