On the Bondi Beach shootings

Before writing anything about the events of Sunday evening - when two gunmen shot and killed at least 15 people who had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah at Bondi Beach - I felt it important to talk with Jewish friends. Now I am ready to say something.

We Aboriginal people know what it is like to be targeted by violent men. Historically, many thousands of our people were killed by settlers. Where I live, here in the North-West of trouwerner/Tasmania, employees of the Van Diemen's Land Company were instructed to kill any 'blacks' who got in their way. By 1830 there was almost no-one left from the NW families.
Racist attacks continue, particularly from far-right settler movements who see themselves as the only legitimate inheritors of the land. The recent attack on Camp Sovereignty in Naarm/Melbourne is an example. The ongoing problem of Aboriginal heritage sites being defaced and vandalised is another.

In addition, we all find ourselves in settler companies and institutions which structure themselves in ways that communicate, very clearly, that First Nations people do not matter, that our perspectives, knowledges and wellbeing are simply not important.

All of which is to say that we have some understanding of how many of our Australian Jewish kin feel right now. Battered, bruised, and hurt. Unseen, invisible, unloved. Worn out, traumatised, despairing.

My heart goes out to these kin in care and solidarity. We see you, we hear you, we love you. May the light of divine love give you the courage you need to endure and to heal.

Garry Worete Deverell

December 17, 2025