Andrew Dickens: What we need to learn from the Bondi attack

After Bondi It now seems obvious that antisemitism is out the gate. Particularly in Australia with a large population who hail from the middle east, but increasingly so in this country and around the world.

and I don't think the genie is going to be put back in the bottle any time soon.

The conflict in Gaza starting with the Hamas attack on the music festival in October 2023 has only intensified the conflict between faiths.

and you don't want to victim blame but Israel's reaction to the original attack has not calmed the situation but further radicalised Moslems.

Presenting talkback on the Gaza situation over the past 2 years I have been at pains to separate the Israel State from the Jewish faith but that has been impossible for both sides.

Not helped by Netanyahu who goes out of his way to make sure you know the faith is the state and vice versa.

Any talk of Gazan bloodshed by Israel is always pulled back to October the 7th 2023.

And any talk about the Hamas atrocity is always linked back to the Israeli counter moves.

Any criticism of Israel's actions is always branded antisemitism by supporters of Israel.

Both sides now locked in a deadly dance with no middle ground of peace. A dance that has been there since 1948 but today is more furious than ever.

Blessed are the peacemakers they say but where are they.

One reported blessing is that the Australian hero who disarmed a Bondi attacker was himself an Arab.

A local fruit shop owner. Showing that the killers are not indicative of all Moslems.

Hopefully that might ease the wave of Islamophobia that is almost inevitable.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.