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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Thomas Keneally

The Bondi terror attack was designed to drive us to rancour – but there is no peace in division

Composite of a man holding his hands on his head in front of the Bondi Pavilion
‘There is a tendency to decide politicians are to blame. But the truth is that in cases of such egregious savagery as this, our democracy feels inadequate.’ Composite: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

The Bondi attack was an unutterably cruel event, all the more horrifying for being ours, and we can’t stop ourselves saying so. It is a sword that fell on the necks of two sets of Australians. Yet again, young Australian Jews will be asking parents why they are hated, and that is heartbreaking. In a different sense, so will young Muslims.

During their apparent sojourn in a Campsie B&B, the alleged terrorists could not have been confident of their own survival, but they must have been confident in producing a reaction. It is a matter of civic pride that a Muslim man accosted one of the gunmen and took a weapon from him; a matter of a small yelp of praise and gratitude amid the cruelty.

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