IreneSpring

There were 73 days between terrorist attacks against jews.

Whilst i do think its important to talk about those as well, and I have on other posts, this post is about incidents which have been designated terror attacks.

The couple who tried to disarm the Bondi Beach terrorists before they were shot dead are named as Boris and Sofia Gurman.

Newly uncovered dashcam footage appeared to show the pair confronting the father and son gunmen after the attackers parked their car, before Boris tussles with one of them to try and get his weapon.

The car appears to have an Islamic State flag draped across the windshield.

According to news.com.au, the Russian-Jewish couple lived in Bondi and are survived by a son in his 30s.

“We are heartbroken by the sudden and senseless loss of our beloved Boris and Sofia Gurman,” the family says in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“In recent days, we have become aware of footage showing Boris, with Sofia by his side, courageously attempting to disarm an attacker in an effort to protect others,” the statement reads.

I basically had to full on stop what I was doing and look at the image because I had forgotten that usually there would be good feelings and celebration at that time.

Like after Australia's mass shooting, and Redlands' drive-by hate crime, and Amsterdam's attempt by antisemites to storm a Hanukkah concert, I had fully forgotten the concept of "a very pleasant 1st day of Hanukkah" bc of the sheer amount of violent antisemitism on said day. Hanukkah positivity zapped me out of my doom scroll. Like "oh yeah I'm supposed to be playing dreidel with my family since my grandmother sent us gelt but instead I'm refreshing this one New Zealand news agency someone I follow posted this morning and seems to have current information, or learning from other Jews refreshing different news sites about the increasing casualty count, or about whole new violence from completely different countries."

It was a good feeling in that people were still bothering to wish us Happy Hanukkah. We must overcome and celebrate etc etc. It was a bad feeing because of how absurd the Bugs Bunny meme's message seemed. It very much did not match the moment. One of my immediate instincts was to laugh, because the image seemed so absurd at the time. Very few people's Jewish followers had a happy first night of Hanukkah, and after the mass shooting news broke, a cutesy meme message just didn't...fit.

Non jews: "I cant believe this in 2025. How could something like this happen!!! This is so suprising"

The rabbi who was killed during the Bondi Beach Channukah shooting had tried to warn the PM of Australia about the levels of antisemitism.

A lawyer who wrote a few pieces for the Jerusalem Post who was shot but survived, also had tried to warn the Australian government of the levels of antisemitism.

The mossad warned the Australian government that an attack was likely to happen

One of the shooters was on a fucking watchlist

Yet apparently we are supposed to act surprised? All the non jews I've seen have been going "how can this happen in 2025!!" Because you all let it. Jews have been warning people about the increase in antisemitism for years.

This was an incredibly tragic event, but it is not surprising.

I do not care that the Australian Prime Minister says that among this hateful attack Australia will find unity and embrace their Jewish siblings because that's a whole load of bullshit.

Australia has been nothing but antisemitic and hateful so far.

And when a Journalist calls him out, reminds him of the government's antisemitic statements and actions ( like the refusal to visit the october 7th memorial sites ), that the government allowed for antisemitism to rise and fester in Australia and how can he keep the Jewish community safe and all he can answer is that they will keep the community safe? Ignoring the first half - then you know nothing will be done.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukkah. This gathering would have been a celebration to mark the holiday’s start. There were 1000 people there; 11 dead (plus one of the shooters), and 29 wounded, so far. They haven’t finished counting the casualties.

I mostly focus on antisemitism in America, but Diaspora communities all over the world have suffered a sharp uptick in antisemitic attacks in recent years:

A year ago, a synagogue was set on fire in Melbourne.

This January, a home formerly owned by by a Jewish community leader was vandalized with antisemitic slogans and two cars set on fire

A few days later, a childcare center near a Jewish school and synagogue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and firebombed

Two other synagogues were vandalized during this period

Members of the Australian Jewish community, though grief-stricken by this latest attack, are not surprised by it. Nor am I. We’re seeing the same bullshit here in the US, British and French Jews report much the same, and so forth. This is the new normal.

I know many of my Gentile friends are going to respond with expressions of support and sympathy. I’m grateful for that, I truly am, but I need you to do more. I need you to educate yourself about antisemitism, and to push back against it when you see it in your friend circles. Here are some books on the topic that may be useful for you:

Antisemitism: the Longest Hatred

Jews Don’t Count

I would say it's a shock and something unexpected, but unfortunately, not really. Even the rabbi warned about antisemitism

Go fuck yourself you victim blaming antisemite. This is no one's fault but a murderous Jew hater.

This happened all the way in Australia at a fucking Hanukkah party. The murderer targeted Jews. Not "good Jews" or "bad Jews" or "Zionists." Jews. At holiday party.

The ghost of jack kirby possessed his body for sec