tl;dr - violent rhetoric and actions must not be tolerated; we must unite in our civility.

I came from Israel to live in Australia in 2012. I'm writing about totally misguided messages and attitude, relating to the pro-palestinian mob gathering at the Opera House on Monday 9th of October, and relating to the Jewish Community gathering on Wednesday, 11th of October. The message about Jewish Community gathering was shared word-to-mouth, and the exact location was shared just a few hours before. It was held in a beautiful secluded spot in the sleepy affluent Eastern Suburbs, far from any public transport and any public visibility. Honorable MPs apologized for the Monday mob's battle cries at Circular Quay and Town Hall, and expressed sadness that "you, the Jews, are persecuted just because of your faith". While the sentiment is nice, it misses the point tragically. It's not an apology that we want to hear, and not a separation into a specific unfortunate group. We need to clearly and repeatedly drive the point that any violence and calls to violence and hatred are bad an unacceptable and unwanted. Regardless of whether it's coming from Islamic terrorists or Pro-Putin thugs or quasi-BLM mobsters. This is not about anti-semitism; Jews are just the traditional exemplary target of such attitudes, of "attacking the other". As you know, Israel is not the only target of Islamist rhetoric. The USA is hated not less than Israel. It just happens to sit on the North American continent, and to have air-carriers, so it's a bit harder to reach from the outside. But you know that the USA and the so-called western way of life is also in the sights of terrorist groups. Coming to all the theatres near you, this season. From the inside. When this happens, the transformation of the message from "I'm sorry that you, the Jewish-faith people had to suffer" to "I'm sorry that WE have to suffer" will happen naturally, but it will be a bit too late.

The fact that a loud and violent mob is allowed to rave at large at the city center (and that lone guy had his Israeli flag removed, and himself removed to "safety"), and the fact that the gathering of violin-wielding israelis has to be tucked to a remote park is the crux of the issue here. I understand that in the short term it's cheaper and safer to not intervene with the loud mob, and to shove the peaceful mob away from the loud one. But this is the approach of cowardice. We do not feel safe to even go with an Israel t-shirt on the streets, but we should feel safe; and not just "Jewish community" - all of us. It is not just these specific two gatherings matter - what matters most is the prevalent messaging and attitude in the minds of citizens. We should be highlighting and spreading this very message relentlessly, to shape the community values. We must remember what is right and what is wrong, and where we want to find ourselves tomorrow. To spread this message, a voice with outreach is needed. I do not have such Voice personally. I do not happen to belong to a culture which has immediate, single-step connection with the human way of being 60,000 years back. I happen to belong to a culture which did many steps since then, and the latest few most important steps are those of civilization (or rather civility) and humane values. Spreading of this petition can help keep this message alive, in the face of actions which are killing this message, while killing people.