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Shooting in Australia Targets Chanukah Event

Admin December 14, 2025

 

LOS ANGELES (December 14, 2025) — Since October 7, 2023, Australia’s Jewish community has watched with mounting alarm as antisemitic threats, harassment, and violence have escalated, often met with official statements, but no meaningful action. 

At the same time, rhetoric emanating from the prime minister’s office that stigmatized and demonized Israel helped normalize antisemitism at home and lower the threshold for violence against Jews. This toxic combination of murderous antisemitism, political hesitation, and inflammatory language has now reached a horrific crescendo in Sydney, where twelve innocent people have been murdered while celebrating Hanukkah.
 
This was not random violence. This was targeted anti-Jewish terror.
 
Yet even in the aftermath of this explicitly anti-Jewish terror, the government's pattern of erasure continued. Prime Minister Albanese’s initial statement did not mention Hanukkah. It did not mention antisemitism. It did not even say the word ‘Jewish.’ Only when directly questioned did the Prime Minister acknowledge the anti-Jewish nature of the attack.  This omission is not incidental; it reflects a broader failure of the Australian government to confront increasingly dangerous antisemitism emanating from corners of Australian society.  
 
Let us be clear: Australia’s intelligence and law-enforcement professionals are capable. The failure here is political.
 
It is long overdue that Australia's institutional leadership publicly acknowledge and confront the virulent antisemitism that exists in some quarters of Australian society that has been normalized, ignored, and in some cases even encouraged. This collective failure to recognize and respond to antisemitism has now resulted in the cruel mass murder of innocent members of Australia's Jewish community.

About the Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a global Jewish human rights organization that combats antisemitism, defends the State of Israel, and uses the lessons of the Holocaust to teach tolerance and combat hate. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO). Headquartered in Los Angeles, the SWC operates in key centers of Jewish life including New York, Chicago, Florida, Toronto, Jerusalem, Vienna and Buenos Aires. To learn more, visit www.wiesenthal.org.

About Moriah Media

Moriah Media is the Academy Award-winning storytelling division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), dedicated to creating entertainment that informs, inspires, and amplifies the Center’s mission. The company develops, produces, and distributes feature films, television series, documentaries, and short-form content that bring critical issues to life through powerful storytelling. Leveraging its deep relationships with leading creative talent, major studios and television networks, as well as the SWC’s global network of field operations, supporters and volunteers, Moriah Media delivers stories with unmatched authenticity and reach, engaging audiences worldwide. Media inquiries should be directed to Erik Simon or Deborah Camiel at pressinquiries@wiesenthal.com. 

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