If you’re reading this, you have access to the internet. And if you have access to the internet, you have heard about the tragic events in Bondi.
A lot of people are surprised. And you know what, so am I. Perhaps I shouldn’t be, but the Australia I grew up in just didn’t have this sort of behaviour and hate. I’m sure there were plenty of ethnic tensions, and I haven’t forgotten the Cronulla riots. Clearly there was, and still is, a fair bit of division between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the Top End. But I never thought it would come to this.
My favourite heuristic when dealing with complex topics is the idea that “many things can be true at once”, or put another way, you “can walk and chew gum at the same time”.
It’s clear that the vast majority of muslims in Australia are peaceful, useful, and valuable members of our society. The fact that the person who saved the most lives yesterday was himself a Muslim says it all.
It’s also clear that many people feel terrible about the situation in Gaza. For every terrorist in the strip, there are no doubt many men, women, and countless children who just want to live in peace. A peace that for the past three years have evaded them as Israel conducts its operations. All empathetic people can feel sorry for those living under those conditions.
At the same time, the rhetoric is way too hot, and there has been a vacuum of leadership on this issue. Anti-semitism has been rising in Australia for a long time. Australian people who happen to be Jewish, and have as much influence on Israeli operations as my deceased cat, are openly targeted with slander, graffiti, and threats. It’s just so, so sad.
A lot of language about reclaiming Palestine, globalising the interfada, and chanting “to the river to the sea” might have been easily hand-waved away last week, but no more.
It’s just a really sad day.