I want to give Josh Frydenberg some leeway here. He's grieving, and not just as a public figure but as a Jewish Australian whose community is clearly traumatised. That lived experience matters and gives his voice a certain moral weight.

But moral weight isn't the same as moral infallibility.

When a political leader responds to a national tragedy by only blaming their political opponents - let alone unfairly or prematurely - while completely ignoring some of the most significant known sources of antisemitism just because they're "closer to home", I think it's fair to ask whether that response is truly about justice, or more about politics.

The fact that Frydenberg had nothing to say about neo-Nazis, white supremacists, or far-right extremists - all of whom have played a big role in the rise of antisemitism here and abroad - is glaring enough to test the willingness to suspend judgment of even the most patient and understanding among us.

Who Frydenberg chooses to blame is telling, but who he doesn't blame might be even more so.

It's entirely possible that his pain is clouding his judgment. But when someone speaks from a position of power and authority, their omissions matter just as much as their mentions.

Brainfart contradiction #1
"You are the Prime Minister of Australia, and the history of the Holocaust is that bad things happen when good people stay silent."

"Fourth, stop the protests. For 2½ years, we have put up with daily protests which have become incubators of hate."

- So you want them to stay silent during a genocide finding by the ICC?
Didn't you just say bad things happen when good people stay silent?

"So how, with some 1000 ­people here for a Hanukkah celebration, during a heightened threat environment, did we have just three police ill-equipped to provide the first and fundamental duty of both the state and the federal government, to protect the safety of their citizens?"
- Because all the other cops were tied up going after people for Anti-Semitic social media posts?

"Well, let me tell you, guns may have stolen the lives of 15 innocent civilians but it was radical Islamist ideology that pulled the trigger."

I thought someone said the perpetrator went to the Palestinian march.
- Maybe he was upset that radical Jewish ideology had stolen the lives of over 70 thousand innocent civilians.
Imagine how upset you are over 15 people, and pretend the Palestinian supporters are 5000 times more upset and frustrated as you and had to watch a slaughter of their people far greater than the one you're complaining about go on for 2 and a half years?

Brainfart contradiction #2
You speak about "teaching Australian values of tolerance, respect."
Its you that seems to tolerate Israels crimes against humanity just fine, acting like this was an completely unrelated incident.
Somehow 15 people as tragic as it is, is completely intolerable to you, but I'd bet you never uttered a single word to suggest Israels actions were intolerable.
Will we be teaching our kids that some lives are worth more than others in this education reform as well?

And don't talk about democratic values when those you support hold Palestinians without charge and without due process.

Values, what values?
Supporting genocide, ethnic cleansing and land theft?
No thanks, keep your values.

Had the protesters after the October 7 massacre been Neo Nazis, would they have been allowed to march illegally? Would they have had the police stand by while they made genocidal chants? Would the only arrest made be that of an objecting bystander with an Israeli flag? Would there be unmolested protests spewing similar hatred across the nation for years afterwards?

Far right extremism has always been recognised and acted upon by the Albanese government. The same cannot be said for the radicalism behind the murder of innocent people at Bondi.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/691959790540866
And, what are we to make of this ?
Explanations please if anyone has one.

Sounds like people don't really care ?

Indy,

"Sounds like people don't really care ?"

Knowing the real history conflicts with the accusations of genocide against Israel. Don't worry, the Jew haters will be back in force when the memory of Bondi fades a bit.