Light in the darkness at South Beach

Hundreds of people gathered for a memorial event at South Beach last evening, Sunday, 21 December 2015, convened by Jews for Palestine for the victims of the anti-Semitic outrage at Bondi Beach the Sunday before.

Participants were asked to not bring national flags to preclude any linking of the event to vindication of Israel or slander of the Palestinian solidarity movement.

The occasion was meditative and the crowd pensive; some tears were shed and hugs exchanged. Yehudah Shmuel gave the speech that is produced below.

The mourners were invited to each pick up a small stone and candle and place the stones along the retaining wall behind the sand dune. Not everybody chose to join the long line to do so, but at the end 167 stones were counted.

The social breadth of the crowd reflected the peace movement in Fremantle and beyond. Mourners included people wearing kippahs, others in hijabs and Gemma Baseley, from St Paul’s Anglican church, Beaconsfield, in priestly garb.

Andrew Sullivan, the Fremantle City councillor who represents South Beach, attended, along with MLCs Sophie McNeill, Brad Petitt and Tim Clifford. Also present were Felicity Townsend and Amy Warne (Greens) and Joshua Last (Socialist Alliance), recent State election candidates, and Nova Sobieralski (Socialist Alliance) who was a Federal Senate candidate. Sam Wainwright of Socialist Alliance helped with the sound system.

Yehudah Shmuel’s Speech

We are here to mourn the death of 15 people. But, when we lose a person, it is as if we have lost an entire world. So, today we mourn, not just 15 people, but 15 worlds lost. From a child of just 10, to an 87-year-old holocaust survivor.

These people were killed by two men, yes, but they were also killed by hatred. Hatred is the biggest man-made killer in history. It kills more than any weapon, and it is at the hands of hatred that the Jewish people have suffered for thousands of years.

It is important to remember, in times like this, that when hatred turns to violence, it is all of humanity which loses. Hatred begets hatred, and violence begets violence.

It is for this reason that we must stand together and unite against hate in all its forms. A seed of hate planted anywhere will grow, and more worlds will be lost. A world free from anti-Semitism is only possible in a world free from hatred. And, in this way, the freedom of the Jewish people is one and the same as the freedom of all humanity.

Today, we will all place a stone to symbolise the enduring memory of the victims. And, as we reflect on the symbol of the stone, we think, also, on the enduring scar left on the Jewish people, and all of humanity by this massacre, as well as our enduring commitment to fight hatred.

We are a people defined by our ability to survive and keep fighting. We are called, during Hanukkah, to remember the story of the Maccabean Revolt, and the miracle of the flame which burned on for 8 days, enduring when there was only oil enough for 1 day.

Just like the miraculous flame, the Jewish people will go on, even when darkness surrounds us, and there seems not enough for us to sustain. And like Yehudah Maccabee, we carry on the spirit of liberation. The light of hope and the memories of the victims we will carry with us as a people united, enduring like the stone and the flame.

Words by Barry Healy, photographs by Sophie McNeill

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