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‘Not a blame game’: Anti-Semitism envoy responds to Bondi attack, after Netanyahu snipe
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‘Not a blame game’: Anti-Semitism envoy responds to Bondi attack, after Netanyahu snipe

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Jillian Segal has called for accelerated action to combat anti-Semitism and urged Australians to embrace the Jewish community following the ‘horrific’ Bondi attack.
At least 16 people have been killed, including one of the gunmen, and 42 others injured in a terrorist attack that authorities say was aimed at targeting the Jewish community.
In an interview with SBS News, Australia’s anti-Semitism envoy said hateful words at protests had led to “hateful acts”, calling for reform of laws including hate speech.
“We have to stop the hate, stop the chants,” Segal said.

“Stop waving terrorist flags because it is progressing just as we saw the Opera House, the Harbor Bridge and now Bondi Beach, each a progression and hateful words leading to where we are today.”

In an earlier interview, Segal confused the March for Humanity on the Sydney Harbor Bridge in August with the attack, but told SBS News she had not urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests.
“I understand, of course, that we live in a society that values ​​freedom of expression and the right to protest, but it is the hate speech that we must take into account,” she said.
The Palestinian Action Group, which organized the Harbor Bridge protest, was “shocked” by Segal’s comments, noting that 300,000 people had marched “peacefully” to “counter genocide and racism”, and warned against turning Sunday’s tragedy “into further racist hatred”.
Segal released a twenty-point plan to combat hostility towards Jewish Australians in July, but the recommendations are still pending, partly because of their controversy.
Segal, who spoke to Albanian on Monday, said part of its plan to combat anti-Semitism “can and should be accelerated.”
The Prime Minister is now under pressure to approve the plan, which includes cutting funding to public broadcasters if they are found to be perpetuating a distorted representation of Jews, threatening cuts to universities that fail to act against anti-Semitism and overhauling Australia’s hate speech laws.
Segal said a “blame game” would not help Jewish Australians, but instead urged the community to reach out and embrace those affected.

“Not in an abstract way, but all the Jewish people you know, supporting them, speaking out about the contribution of the Jewish community to the overall community, talking about the importance of them feeling safe,” she said.

Segal said further education about what constitutes anti-Semitism is needed to reduce it. He stated: “It is an age-old hatred, and it is a hatred that is not well understood.”
She revealed that she had also spoken to Aftab Malik, the Special Envoy for Combating Islamophobia, and that the two wanted to ensure that tensions did not “flare up”.

“We are united in our efforts to fight the hatred that divides us,” she said.

Netanyahu criticizes Prime Minister’s response to anti-Semitism

The Israeli government has blamed the government for Sunday’s attack, saying it has not done enough to combat anti-Semitism.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the mass shooting of people celebrating the start of Hanukkah as “cold-blooded murder.”

He said he wrote to Albanians in August, warning that the recognition of a Palestinian state “poured fuel on the anti-Semitic fire” and accused the government’s policies of “encouraging” anti-Semitism.
“You allowed the disease to spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.
Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs went further, claiming “the blood of the victims is on the hands of the Australian government”.

It accused the government of not standing “unequivocally” behind Israel.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the scene and laid flowers at Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach. Source: MONKEY / Dean Levins

At a press conference on Monday morning, Albanians declined to respond directly to Netanyahu’s comments, saying instead: “This is a moment for national unity.”

“This is a moment for Australians to come together. That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” he said.

Segal said it was not helpful to “blame an individual personally” and has called for a local focus from the NSW government and the federal government to use the tools available to combat the “hate that has invaded our society”.

“I would be very grateful if everyone would focus on what we can do now in Australia to restore our souls and embrace the Jewish community and all other minorities.
“This is part of our democracy and our social cohesion that we need to restore. And it’s not just words, it’s real action that needs to happen.”

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