TRANSCRIPT
Marking one year since the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel sparked a massive military bombardment of Gaza, communities around Australia are gathering to reflect and mourn the lives lost in the past year.
The attack on Israel killed over 1200 Israeli people and saw around 250 kidnapped by Hamas, 101 of which are believed to still be held captive in Gaza.
Since then, Israel's military has killed over 41,000 people in Gaza, over 2000 in Lebanon, and over 630 in the occupied West Bank, with over 10,000 Palestinians arrested without trial in the West Bank.
Events held by Jewish and Israeli communities are commemorating the events of October 7th and mourning the loss of Jewish lives.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry chief, Alex Ryvchin, is calling for the day to be left to the Jewish community as a day of mourning and commemoration.
"The fact that over 100 people remain in captivity, it’s a national tragedy for the Jewish people. And the fact that a year has passed and so much has occurred for us as a community, so much has happened in our own personal lives, and all the while, these people are languishing in hell, second by second, minute by minute, and frankly, nothing is being done for them."
For the Palestinian and Muslim community, October 7 marks the beginning of Israel's latest bombardment of Gaza.
Speaking to SBS, Amal Naser from the Palestine Action Group says the lives of Palestinians killed must also be remembered.
"October seventh mark(s) the start of our genocide. Netanyahu made a comment that Gaza is a city of darkness, which forms part of dehumanising language used to legitimise this genocide. It was a quote that was referenced by the international court of justice in the case against Israel's genocide, and on October 7 air strikes of Gaza began and over 200 Gazans were murdered on this day, and we have every right to commemorate not just one day but 12 months of relentless murder, 42,000 people have been killed, and we have a right to not just mourn today but every other day."
A landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel’s ongoing assault could amount to genocide, ordering Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocidal acts.
Israel called the accusation of genocide obscene.
Meanwhile, at a vigil in Canberra, Jewish students from the Australian National University say they no longer feel supported on campus.
"By the time I was born in Sydney, antisemitism was seemingly relegated to a distant past, but today, to be a Jew on campus is to hear the echoes of history. I walk through the modern and innovative university I have called my home for the past two and a half years and feel that my experience is no different to the generations of Jews before me, despite the promise of inclusion. The age old disease of antisemitism is suffocating."
Muslim Australians also say they are dealing with a sharp escalation in Islamophobia, with many expressing that the government is speaking less about the killing of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the last year has been difficult for the Jewish community.
"Innocent lives taken at a music festival, women, men and children killed in their homes. Brutality that was inflicted with cold calculation. Today we also think of those hostages, whose lives remain suspended in the fear and isolation of captivity. For their loved ones this past year must have felt like an eternity."
Speaking on Seven's Sunrise, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten says the October 7 attacks were unprovoked, and believes the anniversary should be about mourning Jewish lives.
"The people with blood on their hands is Hamas. It's a year’s anniversary since terrorists invaded Israel, killed over twelve hundred people, committed unspeakable crimes, stole two hundred and fifty hostages. I can see why people feel very strongly. Be they of Palestinian heritage, Jewish heritage, Lebanese, or just generally feel very strongly against civilian deaths. But today is a year since, Hamas crossed the borders so they're the people with blood on their hands."
Hamas in its entirety is listed as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and seven other countries, including Australia.
But the UN Assembly rejected classifying Hamas as a terrorist group in a 2018 vote.
Pro-Palestinian activists say that the violence in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories dates back decades before October 2023.
In September 2023, one month before the October 7 attacks, 2023 was declared the deadliest year for Palestinian children in the West Bank since records began.
Rally co-organiser Tasnim Sammak told SBS her family has been subjected to Israeli violence in Gaza for over 75 years.
"My family lives in Gaza. My dad was born in a refugee camp in Gaza. We have been there since 1948 due to the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing. Most of the population in Gaza are refugees. I've lost many family members to Israeli bombs and just yesterday my dad received the news that five women in our family - they survived an entire year of bombs. And now death has caught up to them. They are now under the rubble."
