Download here: SJAIA statement
Statement after murders of 15 Jewish People on Bondi Beach December 2025
In a terrible display of antisemitism, once again Jews have been murdered just for being Jews. Fifteen people enjoying the first night of Hannukah, the Jewish festival of light, were killed. Many more could have died but for a Muslim man acting with immense bravery to disarm one of the killers. The mainstream is cynically exploiting these murders to reinforce the idea that antisemitism is uniquely dangerous.
We are particularly appalled by Orthodox Chief Rabbi Mirvis , who has previously glorified the soldiers carrying out the genocide, when he commented, on BBC News on 15th December, blaming the “demonisation of Israel” for the shooting. It is instead the State of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – as well as the false insistence of the State and figures like Rabbi Mirvis that they speak for all Jews – that is fanning the flames of antisemitism.
His acceptance by, and regular appearance on, the BBC is an example of an hypocrisy weΒ cannot ignore. It is an example of how Jewish lives seem more important to the mainstream media compared to the lives of Palestinians. The Bondi Beach attack has rightly received mass coverage, yet the average of 15 Palestinians a day killed in Gaza by the Israeli military since the supposed ceasefire came into effect receives little coverage from many outlets.
Zionism does not keep Jewish communities safe it does the opposite. Zionism claims to be peaceful and democratic but it is the opposite. Zionism claims Israel’s actions are for all Jews but it is the opposite.
The safety of Jews everywhere is inherently linked to the safety of Palestinians and oppressed peoples across the world.
Until we defeat Zionism and see a liberated Palestine – free from occupation and apartheid, with a right of return for Palestinians, and in which true equal rights exist for all – we cannot hope to defeat antisemitism.
