Senior Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin has opened up on the “appalling” moment he was branded an “evil Zionist” while visiting the site of the Bondi massacre.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive was at Archer Park with a group of Sydney Swans players on Wednesday when he was approached by a woman who proceeded to unleash hateful rhetoric towards him.
Mr Ryvchin expressed his shock to Sky News host Chris Kenny, arguing that people continue to be “brazen” regarding antisemitism in the months following the terror attack.
“My colleague Evan, who was shot in the back when it all began, was with me,” he said on Thursday.
“As we entered the site, this woman approached and said, ‘Why are you here?’ and called me an evil Zionist and so forth.
“Look, I feel like in the last few years, I’ve seen it all and experienced many things, but to have this happen here on hallowed ground, the site of a massacre just six months afterwards and for Evan, a survivor, to have to be re-traumatised in that way and have to experience that, I think it’s appalling and it shows really how little has changed since the massacre.
“If we felt that there would be some sort of catharsis or transformation, I don’t think it has happened, and I think those who always despise the Jewish people and wish violence upon us, people like this woman. They’re still around; they’re still brazen.”
Mr Ryvchin said that society must address antisemitism before another tragedy occurs and warned that dangerous language can be used to “incentivise” violence against Jewish people.
“The killers who carried out the slaughter not far from where I’m standing now, in their manifesto, it will be alleged by the police, they spoke about the evil of Zionists,” he added.
“The exact language that this woman used here. So it shows that it’s merely a fig leaf for a deep hatred and the sort of words this woman uses serves to normalise and incentivise violence.
“We have to take a stand against it before another tragedy transpires.”
In April, Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell delivered her interim report examining the circumstances surrounding the Bondi terrorist attack, with 14 recommendations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to accept all that relates to the Commonwealth.
The recommendations include calls to heighten security during Jewish events and refine counter-terror co-operation between federal and state agencies.