Chronicle poll results: Attending large Jewish events after Bondi
We asked our readers if the Bondi Beach attack has influenced their plans to attend large public Jewish events. Here's what they said.
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an online poll the following question: “Has the Bondi Beach attack influenced your plans to attend large public Jewish events?” Of the 233 people who responded, 58% said, “No I will continue attending”; 20% said, “Yes I will be more cautious”; 16% said, “Yes, I may avoid them”; and 6% said they were unsure. Comments were submitted by 60 people. A few follow.
I am attending several, but being cautious while there.
We will not be intimidated or deterred from doing what we do as Jews.
We cannot let terrorists scare us into changing our lives for their sake. That said, ever since the shooting on 10/27, I am much more aware of my surroundings at Jewish events, including semi-public ones like synagogue services.
I’ll continue attending, but I now worry more about our grandkids attending events.
We should never be afraid. Fear lets them win.
The real answer is, “Yes, I am more likely to attend.” I will not be cowed into hiding who I am. I will attend more events, more proudly, in public and in visible defiance of their hate.
I will attend, but always have my eyes open and look for security.
I do not attend large public Jewish events regularly, but if/when I do, I feel more at ease if I know there will be security present.
As a queer Jew, I will be more Jewish and more queer in public spaces. For both Jews and queers: Silence = death.
Your poll is missing the correct answer: “Yes, I will be more likely to attend them.” We the Jewish people need to assert our Jewish pride, our American rights to freedom of religion, and our refusal to allow the Islamic terrorists and their supporters to defeat us.
I will admit that the Bondi Beach shooting gives me pause. Jews have been targets over the years, but now it seems both more spontaneous and targeted. I cannot say how I will participate in in public events.
Unfortunately, I feel like we all need to be more cautious going forward. That said, I think that we will see more people carrying personal protection.
As long as right-wing Zionists continue to conflate opposition to the Netanyahu regime with antisemitism, no Jew in the Diaspora will be safe from extremists. Exacerbating matters is the surge of white nationalists like Nick Fuentes in the Republican Party who admire Hitler. So Diaspora Jews are hemmed in from both sides.
The more that they hunt us, the more that we must resist. This is what “globalize the intifada” actually looks like.
They have it right in Bondi: Each night thereafter people showed up to the lightings, with a crowd of 10,000 the eighth night. Add more light! PJC
comments