Commissioner Virginia Bell heard testimony from dozens of witnesses during the first week of hearings, which examined Jewish Australians’ daily encounters with racism and discrimination. Many spoke anonymously due to safety concerns. Witnesses from diverse backgrounds, ages, and locations shared evidence related to the inquiry prompted by the December 2025 Bondi terror attack. Several recurring themes surfaced.
Five Key Takeaways
1. Public Abuse and Harassment
A Jewish Year 10 student, speaking under a pseudonym, described classmates performing Nazi salutes toward her during a class on the Holocaust novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The daughter of a Bondi terror attack victim recounted walking through Westfield Bondi Junction with her baby when a man pointed at her Star of David necklace and called her a “f***ing terrorist.” Another witness reported being approached on Sydney’s Oxford Street shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. The aggressor used slurs like “dirty Jew,” gave Nazi salutes, and mimicked a gun to the witness’s forehead while he wore a kippah. Despite the incident occurring in daylight on a crowded street, only an American tourist intervened and was assaulted.
2. Hiding Jewish Identity Out of Fear
Numerous witnesses expressed feeling unsafe and unwelcome in Australia. One stated, “A lot of us don’t feel safe anymore. We don’t feel welcome anymore. We thought that things might be challenging. We never expected synagogues to be burned down. We never expected Jews to be hunted on Bondi Beach. We really didn’t expect this sort of thing in this country.” Many now conceal their Jewish symbols: one man wears his kippah under a baseball cap, a teenager tucks away her jewelry, and a woman who fled Hungary 66 years ago hides her Star of David for the first time since childhood. “I found myself for the first time since childhood afraid to wear my Star of David in public,” she said. A mother prohibits her children from displaying Stars of David in public.
3. Lasting Trauma from Bondi Terror Attack
The December 15 massacre, which killed 15 people, has transformed Bondi Beach from a community hub into a site of trauma. One woman shared that her daughter now “thinks about dying” when visiting the beach. A teenager locked down during a Bat Mitzvah at the time suffers “constant nightmares.” Another, whose parents met at Bondi, noted the location now carries a “really heavy weight in the community’s heart.” One man told Commissioner Bell, “It changed the course of my life, and it changed the course, unfortunately, of so many other people’s lives. I go to Bondi Beach a lot. You see the menorah and the memorial that just sits there. You are reminded of it all the time.”
4. Anguish Over Children’s Safety at Schools
Parents voiced deep distress over their children’s experiences. Jewish schools feature heightened security, including guards, barbed wire, and cameras, resembling prisons. The board president of a Sydney Jewish school described graffiti labeling Jews as “terrorists” and “dogs.” “The fact that this is being felt by the youngest and the most vulnerable—our children—is frankly devastating,” she said. A father asked, “Why do kids have to go to school like that? Is it because they’re Jews? It’s not right. Why do I have to go once a term to help on security at the school? Standing there, watching, looking… This is the world that the Jews of Australia live in now and it needs to change.”
5. Surge Linked to October 7 Attacks and Conflations
Counsel assisting the commission, Zelie Heger SC, noted that Hamas’s October 7 attacks—killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages—marked a turning point for antisemitism in Australia. Israel’s Gaza campaign, which has killed over 72,000 and injured more than 172,000, draws genocide accusations from an independent UN commission (not representing the full UN), which Israel rejects. Pro-Palestinian protests, including those with Labor and Greens figures, have risen, but some blur opposition to Israel with antisemitism, equating Jewish identity with support for its actions. Vic Alhadeff OAM told the inquiry that antisemitic incidents often reference overseas events. When raising concerns, a faith group representative replied, “But look what’s happening to the Palestinians in Gaza.” Alhadeff responded, “You have to be made of stone not to care about what is happening to the Palestinians in Gaza, however, why are you holding me responsible? Jewish Australians have no agency in what the Israel Defence Force does, or indeed what the Israeli government does.” The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) recorded over 2,000 incidents from October 2023 to September 2024—a threefold rise excluding online hate. Examples include shouts of “free Palestine” followed by “F the Jews,” and older teens encircling Jewish Year 5 students at Melbourne Museum chanting “free, free, Palestine.”
The hearings continue until May 15, with another block scheduled for month’s end.
