The political response to terrorist attacks – particularly those involving antisemitism – now follow a fairly standard formula relying on a word salad of expressing sadness, assurances that the government stands with the Jewish community, and affirmations that antisemitism has no place in [insert country/province/city here]. While those comments often ring hollow, it is the frequent claims of “shock” that I find most disingenuous. In the aftermath of this weekend’s horrific Chanukah Massacre in Bondi Beach, Australia that left 15 dead including a Chabad rabbi, a holocaust survivor, ten-year old child and many others, you simply cannot claim to be shocked that such an incident would occur. Yet there is the Guardian reporting “communities express shock”, while EU President Ursula von der Leyen, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Lydon, and Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere all say they were shocked by the attack.
A terror attack in which a father and son reloaded their guns repeatedly taking aim at innocent people simply celebrating a Jewish holiday at the beach should shock. However, if you’ve been paying any attention since October 7th, these attacks feel not shocking but inevitable. In Australia, the Chanukah Massacre was preceded by an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue last year as part of thousands of antisemitic incidents over the past two years. The same is true for many other countries such as the killings in Boulder, Colorado and at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in the U.S. and murders at a synagogue in Manchester, UK on Yom Kippur earlier this year. In Canada, the list of antisemitic incidents is too large to catalogue: stabbing at a grocery store, repeated shootings at schools and community centres, and vandalism at synagogues are all part of the hate crime reports to law enforcement in which Jews are by far the most frequent target.
What is shocking is no longer the antisemitic violence, but the willingness of so many to ignore or justify it. It is the ease with which otherwise progressive voices remain silent when the targets of racism or exclusion are Jews. It is those that profess to believe all women except when they are Jewish. It is those that shrug at the Jewish reality of a regular police presence at community schools and synagogues. It is those who actively participate in events that leave Jews feeling unsafe or declare they have a moral obligation to exclude those that believe in the right of Israel to exist. It is those that deride antisemitism statistics or efforts to make sense of antisemitism in Canada as propaganda. It is those that stand by as protesters enter residential neighbourhoods to strike fear in Jews where they live. It is the politicians that somehow can’t find time in their schedule to attend Jewish community events or oppose legislative reforms such as bubble zones designed to provide much needed safeguards. It is the colleagues that liken Zionists to Nazis and the unions that have given up any pretense of treating their Jewish members fairly. And it is those that spread Jewish hate by routinely spreading libels under the guise of anti-Zionism.
If October 7th shocked Israelis, post-October 7th has shocked World Jewry. That shock continues with a palpable sense of betrayal, disgust at the complicity of leaders that regularly disregard their community only to express the phoniest of solidarity when the inevitable terror attacks occur, and fear that the violent calls to “globalize the intifada” that too often ring on our streets and campuses could mean their community is next.
