source : the age
Melbourne’s Jewish children were meant to be waking to the second day of Hanukkah on Monday, and celebrating the end of the school year. Instead, they woke to the bloodshed of the Bondi massacre, which took at least 16 lives, including a 10-year-old girl’s.
Extra police resources have been deployed to Melbourne’s Jewish community schools and hubs, particularly the Caulfield and Glen Eira areas, in response to the targeted mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Police and security escort families into a Melbourne Jewish school on Monday.Credit: Joe Armao
In Sydney, authorities have locked down all Jewish community infrastructure, including synagogues and schools, in response to the massacre. The directive is yet to be extended to Victoria, but the local community is prepared to act quickly.
While many government schools are scheduled to conclude the school year closer to the end of the week, most independent schools, including Jewish ones, have already closed for the summer break.
However, there are still multiple Jewish schools that are due to finish Term 4 on Tuesday.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive Naomi Levin said nothing was proceeding “as usual”, but arrangements were being made to ensure the safety of students and staff at still-operating Jewish schools.
There has been an increased police presence outside Jewish schools and gathering places in Melbourne after the Bondi massacre in Sydney.Credit: Nine News
“The best thing that we know we need to do for children is to help them have some degree of normalcy,” Levin said.
“What we have to do as community leadership – with the support of our law enforcement and government – is to make sure that our kids can continue to go to school.
“I find it really challenging to even be considering pulling Jewish kids out of school when every other Australian child can safely go to school without a second thought this morning.”
On Sunday night, the first night of Hanukkah celebrations, organisers abruptly ended events at Caulfield Racecourse and Federation Square in Melbourne.
Emergency workers help some of the wounded at Bondi Beach.Credit: Janie Barrett
Victoria Police stressed there was “no threat known locally”. However, it said it understood the fear and concern Jewish people would be feeling.
There were no immediate plans to cancel other large festivals planned for this week, and it was the community’s “deepest wish” that the events go ahead, Levin said.
“We will be doing absolutely everything we can as community leadership to make sure that our community can continue to live proud Jewish lives here in Australia,” she said.
However, further decisions would be guided by police, she said.
‘I feel physically ill at the thought of hearing who it is, because no doubt there’ll be friends, colleagues, family members, either of myself or people who I know.’
Naomi Levin, Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive
Only a year ago, Levin was standing in front of the firebombed Adass Israel synagogue in suburban Ripponlea and thinking: “It can’t get any worse than this.”
On Sunday night, she said she was dreading hearing the names of the victims of the Bondi shooting.
“I feel physically ill at the thought of hearing who it is, because no doubt there’ll be friends, colleagues, family members, either of myself or people who I know. So, we’re just waiting with absolute dread,” Levin said.
“We just want to live peaceful lives as Jewish people.”
Former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg issued a damning statement in response to Sunday’s attack, calling it a “tragedy of unimaginable proportions” and saying Australia would never be the same.
“The massacre we have seen at one of our nation’s most iconic landmarks is the culmination of an unprecedented failure of leadership to heed the warning signs that were so obvious to every Australian who opened their eyes,” Frydenberg said in a statement.
The Victoria Police statement on Sunday spoke of the force’s “shock and distress” at events in Bondi, and said police stood with the Jewish community.
It was increasing resources allocated to its Operation Park, established in October 2023 to monitor and co-ordinate investigating offences associated with the Middle East conflict, which are predominantly targeted at Jewish people.
Victoria Police said the statewide operation would involve an increased police presence around places of worship and locations of significance to the Jewish community, including schools, synagogues and community halls.
Premier Jacinta Allan, who on Sunday night expressed her horror and distress at the Bondi shooting, was due to meet with representatives of Melbourne’s Jewish community on Tuesday morning.
From left: Yossi Aron, Binyomin Klein, Daniel Aghion, KC, and Naomi Levin speak to the media after the Adass Israel synagogue fire last December.Credit: Simon Schluter
State lower house MP David Southwick, the member for Caulfield, called the Bondi shooting an assault on Jews in Australia.
“This attack was an assault on the very existence of Jews in Australia. Many in the Victorian Jewish community know someone who has been impacted,” Southwick wrote on social media.
“This violence has been escalating over the past two years, and this tragedy represents a devastating peak.”
Labor member for Macnamara Josh Burns said in a statement Hanukkah was a festival of “hope, resilience and tradition”.
“But now it has turned into something of unimaginable pain. And our hearts are broken,” Burns said.
“Over the next few days, we will all work together to support one another.”
Victorian opposition leader Jess Wilson said she stood with Australia’s Jewish community.
“This repugnant act of targeted violence will cause enormous distress within Australia’s Jewish and broader communities at an already vulnerable time,” Wilson said in a statement.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
