![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/algem.png\")
<\/a>Award-Winning Australian Writer Claims Bondi Beach Terrorist Attack Was Not Antisemitic<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nShiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Award-winning Australian novelist Richard Flanagan claimed at a festival in Sydney recently that the deadly\u00a0ISIS-inspired terrorist attack<\/a>\u00a0on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney\u2019s Bondi Beach last year was not antisemitic and that the \u201cIsrael lobby\u201d could be fueling antisemitism in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOther than the murderous evil of the two gunmen, where was the antisemitism to be found at Bondi on that terrible day? Nowhere. Nowhere. Nowhere,\u201d Flanagan\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0while presenting a new essay inspired by his book\u00a0Heresies<\/em>\u00a0at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. He then condemned \u201cthe immediate politicization of the massacre by the Israel lobby.\u201d Saying the terrorist attack was a result of Australian antisemitism is a \u201cdestructive myth built around the Bondi massacre,\u201d he alleged.<\/span><\/p>\n Flanagan, who is the first and only author to have ever won both the Booker and the Baillie Gifford coveted literary awards, read from a new essay that focused primarily on Israel, Zionism, and antisemitism. He claimed the\u00a0Bondi terrorist attack<\/a>\u00a0against Jewish Australians showcased multiculturalism in the country because Australians from \u201cevery creed, color, and background\u201d rushed to the scene to help, and that \u201cfar from being a culmination of a wave of national antisemitism, [the attack] was a refutation of antisemitism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFreedom of speech and expression are now endangered in Australia by the politicization and weaponization of the Bondi massacre,\u201d the author said. He also made allegations about the \u201crenewed attempt by the Israel lobby to use that tragedy to silence discussion around Israel and Gaza, accusing Israel of \u201cseeking to silence\u201d Australians with the \u201cslur\u201d of antisemitism.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis massacre [at Bondi Beach], it was argued, was a consequence of a government that had done nothing and ignored all warnings about antisemitism \u2026 To what extend has the Israel lobby itself contributed to antisemitism in Australia by consistently advocating for Israel\u2019s war in Gaza in a highly aggressive fashion, always seeking to identify all Australian Jewish people with Israel\u2019s actions and with the lobby\u2019s own heavy-handed attempts to silence Australians,\u201d he stated. \u201cCould it be the lobby\u2019s own acts fueling antisemitism?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201dBut if you wish to create a machine to destroy social cohesion in this country, a machine to create hatred of Jews such as this country has never known, then endorse the ambitions of the special envoy for antisemitism,\u201d Flanagan added.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cBecause although this will be the work of the Israel lobby on behalf of Israel, it will be Australian Jews who will be blamed and scapegoated for it.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Flanagan further claimed that incidents categorized as antisemitic in Australia after the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were in fact \u201clegitimate acts of protest by Australians about the horror of the emerging genocide in Gaza,\u201d including the pro-Palestinian march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2025, where some attendees waved flags in support of the designed terrorist organizations Al Qaeda and ISIS.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite Flanagan\u2019s comments, Australia has seen a\u00a0historic surge in antisemitic incidents<\/a>\u00a0in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Meanwhile,\u00a0Australian intelligence has warned<\/a>\u00a0the threat of antisemitism across the country has escalated from harassment and intimidation to physical attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n Flanagan\u2019s speech was overflowing with anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rhetoric and conspiracy theories. He accused Israel and the \u201cIsrael lobby\u201d of \u201cthreatening to pervert\u201d democracy in Australia and control the country, and claimed Israel is \u201cseeking to silence us here in Australia\u201d when it comes to discussions about the Jewish state. \u201cFrom public broadcasting, to libraries, schools, university, to sports, to medicine, grotesque demands to control every aspect of Australian public life,\u201d he stated.<\/span><\/p>\n The author further claimed that Australia as a whole cannot stand up against the \u201cIsrael lobby\u201d because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese\u2019s government has the \u201cspine of a licorice stick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He additionally criticized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance\u00a0(IHRA) working definition of antisemitism<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 claiming that it \u201cconflates criticism of Israel and criticism of Zionism with antisemitism\u201d \u2014 and repeatedly compared Zionism with Nazism. He said at one point that Zionism \u201carose out of the same ethno-nationalist ferment of the late 19th and early 20th century Europe that also gave the world Nazism, fascism, extreme nationalism, and authoritarianism. Its model of society building was that of 19th century imperialism, conquest and violence to create ethnically pure countries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion’68,<\/em> Award-Winning Australian Writer Claims Bondi Beach Terrorist Attack Was Not Antisemitic Shiryn Ghermezian Australian author Richard Flanagan talks at the literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, Aug. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS\/Tom Little Award-winning Australian novelist Richard Flanagan claimed at a festival in Sydney recently that the deadly\u00a0ISIS-inspired terrorist attack\u00a0on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133414"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133433,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133414\/revisions\/133433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![](\"https:\/\/www.algemeiner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2025-08-23T093756Z_1072121913_RC2DCGAKLO1K_RTRMADP_3_DENMARK-LITERATURE-2.jpg\")
Australian author Richard Flanagan talks at the literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, Aug. 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS\/Tom Little<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\n
\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion’68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.
\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:
\n<\/em>webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"