Being an Australian of German descent, I was appalled by the recent display of Jewish hatred at Bondi.  There is a word for it, antisemitism, coined in 1879. Every culture has experienced racism, yet for Jews it’s profound. They say theirs has endured for millennia, caused by religious, economic, and ideological factors. According to Judaism, they are the chosen ones. Antisemitism existed in ancient Greece and Rome.

It began during the Roman Empire, because of the Jewish refusal to adopt customs. They were also accused of killing Christ, marginalised, not permitted to work in many professions. Being exempt from religious usury, they became money lenders using interest to survive. There is antisemitism all over the world, it was also in France and the UK before WW2. One of the worst moments in human history, Hitler’s gas chambers killed more than 6 million Jews. Now Bondi?

I have always regarded Jews as human, deserving of compassion. I don’t consider race, I might befriend any. I feel I must point out I’ve had a public disagreement with a Jewish friend on Facebook. I used the word Holocaust to describe the future of Palestinians in Gaza.

Anyway, there were 15 people killed in the Bondi Jewish shooting. I find it devastating that such displays of hatred have arrived at home. Then again, I have always thought Australia racist, it is an international problem. I cannot understand such hatred for any group of people. Life, we are all in it together. I think every Australian is against murder. In the Bondi Jewish shooting, a father and son were born evil.