Confronting the Legacy I Inherited: Jewish Heritage, Gaza, and Reconciliation

I am the child of a mixed marriage. My father was a Russian Jew who emigrated to Australia in the 1930s as a young boy, and my mother was a proud fourth-generation Australian.

Growing up, I was inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank and every story written by Henry Lawson. I had nightmares about being a little Jewish girl during the Holocaust and dreamed of heroic battles against the hostile bush environment. Later on, I immersed myself in Russian literature, devouring everything written by Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Anton Chekhov. I absorbed and embraced all the very different parts of my heritage.

My father, a medical doctor, wanted to rush to Israel’s aid in the 1967 Six-Day War (but didn’t) and afterwards celebrated Israel’s triumphant annexation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and other territories. As time marched on, taking with it my father, my mother began to notice Israel’s increasing oppression of Palestinians and openly criticised Israel – thereby alienating some of her oldest and dearest, Zionist friends. Yet her own allegiances never faltered, as she continued to tell stories about her famous explorer ancestors who “discovered” this land and to fondly reminisce about her family’s pioneering days in outback South Australia.

Ah, the stories we imbibe as we grow, and automatically accept … the stories that are told to us by our parents and confirmed in the books we read … the stories that shape who we are, and determine our allegiances to particular groups of people.

It took me a long time to wake up to the fact that my people were responsible for violently taking and occupying lands that did not belong to them, and for the genocide of those original inhabitants – the Palestinians and First Nations people. And, in more recent times, the Ukrainians. It was a terrible blow to realise that my heritage is shameful – both historically and today.

I have no words to describe how I feel about what has been happening in Gaza, especially during the last few years … No, correction … What the state of Israel has done – and continues to do – to the Palestinian people. Frankly, it beggars belief. Nor do I have words to describe how I feel about the ways in which white Australia and white Australians continue to abysmally fail our First Nations people.

I’ve been absolutely devastated by the murder of 15 people in the antisemitic attack on a Chanukah event at Bondi. It’s difficult to understand why random attacks and murders occur, and even harder to comprehend when they are targeted hate-driven attacks. And then, as if things weren’t already bad enough, one particular and very vocal segment of the Jewish community brought in Israel, which imploded our nation’s collective mourning against antisemitism, and thrust Australians back into the confrontational Israel/Palestine divide.

I grieved anew. Hadn’t we learnt anything from the 2023 referendum on the Australian Indigenous Voice to Parliament? Hadn’t we understood from this experience that Indigenous Australians – and indeed any group of people – are not one homogenous mob who all share the same opinions?

I utterly abhor that we have antisemitism here in Australia and that Jews were killed at Bondi – for being Jewish. I understand, and sympathise, that my Jewish friends don’t feel safe going to synagogue. This is an absolutely appalling situation – when who you are makes you into a target.

Unfortunately, here in the so-called “lucky country”, there have always been groups of people who have been targeted and persecuted – simply for being who they are. In my own time as a teacher, I have personally witnessed shocking prejudice and discrimination against students from particular migrant groups. Vietnamese refugees, Black African teenagers, and Muslim women have especially been in the crosshairs.

Every single one of us in this “lucky” country of ours has the right to safety. I grieve that many of us don’t feel safe, and that many of us are not – in reality – safe. Danger lurks everywhere and violence can happen at any time – and does – for certain groups of people. In Australia, women are regularly killed by men in their homes; Black teenagers are continually harassed by police on the streets; and so on.

I love Australia. But we pretend that we are “the lucky country” and not the racist, discriminatory, misogynist country that we are.

Until we take responsibility for who we really are, the violence will continue. And until we can accept difference in others and embrace everyone for being who they are – there will be no peace for any of us.

#InheritedLegacy #JewishHeritage #HeritageAndIdentity #TruthAndReconciliation #FacingTheTruth