Media Releases

On the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 mass terror attacks in Israel, AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein stated, “After two years, the shock of that terrible day, when the first news reports came in about the mass murder, torture, rape and abduction inflicted upon innocent men, women and children across the communities of southern Israel by thousands of Hamas terrorists and other Gazans, has somewhat faded. However, the heartache, the sense of horror, and the feeling of determination it engendered never has.

“And the last two years have been different from any that came before for other reasons as well – especially as this atrocity led, not to greater understanding of the Jewish plight and experience, but to a global explosion of antisemitism, including here in Australia. What’s more, we have witnessed our political leaders, law enforcement and other public institutions often left flat-footed or falling short in responding to this crisis.

“It truly was the day the world changed for all of us at AIJAC, and indeed for the entire Australian Jewish community, and for Jews around the world.”

Dr Rubenstein added, “We are now hoping and praying we are at the cusp of an agreement that would see a conclusion to the Gaza war, and an end to the unconscionable mistreatment by Hamas of the last 48 of the 251 innocent hostages – many of whom are sadly dead – and whose plight has weighed so heavily on us for the past two years. This would be a source of great relief. Yet even if the hostages are released, the war ends, and the Hamas threat is decisively disarmed, the Jewish experience can never return to what it was like before October 7, 2023.

We will always hold dear the memory of the 1,139 people whose lives were taken on that day, as well as the courageous soldiers and innocents who have lost their lives in the terrible conflict Hamas’ murderous terrorism and barbarous hatred made inevitable,” he concluded.