Greens have gall to preach compassion at Bondi after two years of peddling racial division

The Bondi Beach terrorist attack, while a shock, was tragically unsurprising.

The question “how did we get here?” is painfully easy to answer.

Those of us who called out the belligerent scenes at the Opera House on October 9, 2023 watched in despair as excuses rolled in.

Any criticism of the vile anti-Jewish rhetoric at so-called pro-Palestine protests – the calls for a globalised intifada – was met with gaslighting about “starvation” and “genocide”.

And the superficial splitting of hairs between ‘Jews’ and ‘Zionists’ provided a flimsy shield for the hatred of Jews.

It was unedifying then, and it is unforgivable now.

Even as antisemitism intensified – hateful graffiti, synagogue attacks – those red flags failed to spur genuine political leadership.

Instead of action, we got committees.

Instead of courage and moral clarity, we got mealy-mouthed fence-sitting.

And I’ve lost count of how many times I observed that the continued vacuum of political leadership would likely result in horrific and potentially deadly consequences.

The responsibility to provide political leadership in the fight against antisemitism fell to all members of parliament across the political spectrum.

Yet none of these risks seemed to penetrate the dozy minds of the Greens – a gaggle of cretins who never miss an opportunity to score political points if it means socking it to the so-called oppressors.  

In effect, the Greens are the ‘Queers for Palestine’, just with a taxpayer-funded chauffeur service.   

These Keffiyeh clad, red triangle wearing, “from the river to the sea” chanting useful idiots are memes in motion.

There have been motions in parliament condemning Israel while failing to mention hostages, a jibe about the Jewish lobby and its tentacles, a photo with a protester holding a placard featuring the Israeli flag in a bin and all manner of histrionic misinformation spouted at protests.

We’ve seen it all.

Everything, that is, except care and respect for the Australian Jewish community – the seemingly acceptable collateral damage in the progressive left’s jaundiced crusade against “imperialist” Israel.  

That is of course until two terrorists gunned down innocent Jewish Australians celebrating the first night of Hannukah at Bondi Beach.

And then – as if by magic – the anti-Jewish vitriol was shelved.

The Greens pivoted from offensive to charm offensive, trotting out their well-worn script of gratuitous “thoughts and prayers” and “solidarity”.

The audacity.

Greens leader Larissa Waters posted on X a drivelling diatribe which said, among other things, that “Jewish people have a right to safety”, “antisemitism has no place in our community”, and – wait for it – “we must hold each other tightly in the coming days and weeks, and show care and compassion”.

Her sidekick, David Shoebridge, chimed in that he was “thinking of the Jewish community in Sydney tonight who face appalling violence” and “we must pull together with those touched by today’s events and not let the hatred of these men divide us”.  

And if that didn’t rub enough salt in the wounds Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi showed up at the site of the Bondi terrorist attack to mourn.

That’s right – to mourn.

If that doesn’t win you a gold medal in lack of self-awareness, then what does?

Over the last two years, the Greens have taken every opportunity available to disgrace themselves insofar as the Australian Jewish community is concerned.

And to now see them lobbying for cuddles and posturing about compassion can only be viewed as cynical political self-preservation.

They are beyond contempt.

They’ve consistently had no care for the potential real-world consequences of their infantile undergraduate flag-waving.

But in the last 48 hours those real-world consequences have come home to roost.

And the platitudes simply don’t cut it.

Caroline Di Russo is a lawyer with 15 years of experience specialising in commercial litigation and corporate insolvency and since February 2023 has been the Liberal Party President in Western Australia.