\n<\/p>\n
The total number<\/span> of people killed in the antisemitic Bondi Beach massacre was still not known when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the opportunity to blame<\/a> Australia\u2019s mere recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n Two gunmen, father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram, carried out the shooting, which targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, and left 15 victims dead. People of conscience from all faiths have spoken out to condemn the slaughter, to express solidarity with Jewish communities, and to forcefully denounce antisemitism.<\/p>\n Netanyahu and his cheerleaders, meanwhile, have once again chosen the despicable path of weaponizing antisemitism to ensure and legitimize Palestinian suffering.<\/p>\n The point is obvious: to give Israel a free hand to violate Palestinians\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Netanyahu\u2019s comments come as no surprise. They are just his latest vile affront to Jewish lives, using threats to our safety to guarantee that Palestinians can have none. <\/p>\n Beyond the clear fact that the Bondi shooters targeted Jews on a Jewish holiday \u2014 the very definition of an antisemitic attack \u2014 we currently know almost nothing about these men. The idea that their actions justify the continued oppression of Palestinians should be rejected outright.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t stop Netayahu\u2019s most ardent American supporters from jumping to reiterate his message.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first New York Times opinion piece to be published<\/a> in the massacre\u2019s wake came from Israel apologist Bret Stephens, with a column titled \u201cBondi Beach is What \u2018Globalize the Intifada\u2019 Looks Like.\u201d Stephens wrote that the shooting constitutes the \u201creal-world consequences\u201d of \u201cliteralists\u201d responding to chants like \u201cglobalize the intifada,\u201d \u201cresistance is justified,\u201d and \u201cby any means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n The point is obvious: to make sure that Palestinians remain eternally in stateless subjugation and to give Israel a free hand to violate their rights \u2014 including by committing a genocide like the one unfolding in Gaza today. <\/p>\n It\u2019s all done in the name of fighting antisemitism by conflating the worst kinds of violent anti-Jewish bigotry, like what we saw in Bondi Beach, with any criticisms of Israel and its actions. To so much as say Palestinians ought to have basic human rights, in this view, becomes a deadly attack on Jewish safety.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a profound irony here. Like many thousands of Jewish people around the world, I do feel less safe precisely because the Israeli government is carrying out a genocide in our names, associating Jewish identity with ethno-nationalist brutality. It is antisemitic to blame all Jews for Israel\u2019s actions; it is therefore also antisemitic \u2014 and produces more antisemitism \u2014 for Israel to claim to act for all Jews.<\/p>\n Jewish fear, directed into anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim animus, is far more useful to his government\u2019s project of ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n As Netanyahu\u2019s response to the Bondi massacre again makes clear, his interest is not in Jewish safety. Jewish fear, directed into anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim animus, is far more useful to his government\u2019s project of ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n In his Sunday statement, the Israeli prime minister said he had earlier this year told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, \u201cYour call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.\u201d Australia, alongside nations including the United Kingdom, Canada, and France, moved to recognize<\/a> Palestinian statehood in September at the United Nations; 159 countries now recognize Palestine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
\n