The Jewish Academic Alliance of British Columbia mourns the murder of people celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Australia on December 14, 2025. We grieve for those who were killed, pray for the recovery of the injured, and extend our deepest solidarity to the Australian Jewish community.
The Bondi Beach attack adds to a concerning increase in violence towards people, events and institutions, and one of many which intentionally target Jews. Since the October 7, 2023 massacre, we have also seen antisemitic discourse emerging on our campuses that seeks to downplay or justify Hamas’ violence. We deplore how this rhetoric dehumanizes Jews and normalizes antisemitism here in Canada, just as it has in Australia. And as Canadians, we find it unacceptable, and highlight that this rhetoric corrodes our society and its democratic values.
We call on all Canadians to act against the normalization of antisemitism, including violence against, intimidation of, and marginalization of Jews.
We call on leaders to enforce existing policy against those engaging in this divisive rhetoric, and to revise policies as necessary to make sure that we have campuses that are safe and inclusive for all.