All victims of terror deserve solidarity and action
By Tahlia Bowen
On a day of immense trauma for First Nations people, an act of terror was attempted at an Invasion Day rally in Boorloo (Perth). The media and political class failed to call it that, or to react with any sense of urgency. In the face of this blatant selective outrage, there remains an opportunity for all of us to stand in solidarity with First Nations people.
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A year ago, when I learnt that a caravan of explosives was intercepted on its way to a synagogue in Sydney, I was distraught. In the aftermath, while disappointed with the silence of non-Jewish friends, I found solace in the antisemitic incident being treated with the gravity it warranted from law enforcement, political leaders and the media. While the incident was later found to be a “fake terrorism plot” (which doesn’t diminish the real fear felt by the Jewish community), at the time, Premier of NSW Chris Minns was decisive in calling it terrorism.
Fast forward a year: January 26, 2026. A man threw a handmade bomb into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators at an Invasion Day rally in Boorloo/Perth. It thankfully didn’t detonate, but has been acknowledged by Western Australia Police as a potential mass casualty event.
Unlike my experience a year ago, there is little solace to be found in the response. Monday’s racist incident is now being investigated as a “potential terror attack”, but only after significant community pressure, of course led by First Nations communities. According to Crikey, no major outlets published analysis or opinion pieces calling for the designation of a terrorist act, leaving independent media to contend with the blindspots of their counterparts. National Indigenous Times asked why the media had been disturbingly muted, while Ette Media pointed out the vague and passive language choices in the limited mainstream coverage. Even satirical news source Betoota Advocate’s sarcastic take had several commenters admitting it was the first they had heard of the attack.
Meanwhile, political leaders were timid, with officials not using the language of a potential terror incident until more than 48 hours had passed. This terror attack is only the latest in a slew of racist, far-right violence against First Nations peoples, including neo-Nazis’ violent storming of sacred burial ground Camp Sovereignty in September, injuring four people. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan only acknowledged this in vague condemnation of the violence and racism of that day’s anti-immigration rally, putting out a media release only after her subsequent press conference was interrupted by a neo-Nazi leader. Notably, it made no reference to Camp Sovereignty.
It comes as no surprise, then, that people are pointing to selective outrage and a double standard. Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung Senator Lidia Thorpe said that “we can’t say… we all need to stop Islamophobia or antisemitism when racism against First Peoples in this country is allowed to run rife”. Senator Thorpe, rally organisers and Amnesty Australia among others have called for the Royal Commission into Antisemitism to be expanded to cover all forms of racism and far-right extremism.
All of this happens against the backdrop of two Days of Mourning: January 22’s National Day of Mourning for Bondi, and January 26’s Day of Mourning. January 22 came at the end of Shloshim, the 30-day Jewish mourning period after a burial. Uncomfortably, it also fell close to January 26, a day called upon by Aboriginal communities to be marked as a Day of Mourning for at least 88 years, and was given the same name. This understandably prompted First Nations leaders such as Senator Thorpe to poignantly ask, “why are our lives not worth commemorating?”
To be clear: I am not against the Day of Mourning for the victims of the horrific terrorist attack in Bondi, and say none of this to minimise the increasing antisemitism and violence the Jewish community is facing. On January 22, I spent the day at a moving interfaith ceremony, and was grateful for the state-sanctioned space to mourn alongside my community and allies. Faith leaders and policymakers from across the political spectrum were in the room, and I knew that they took my pain seriously. Police manned the premises to protect my safety in mourning.
Rather, I say this to acknowledge that First Peoples should be able to expect the same on January 26. Instead, our Governments continue to reject calls to change the date of Australia Day, even while the number of Indigenous deaths in custody reach a record high. When First Peoples call for the mourning of their dispossession, displacement and slaughter, they are charged with creating division. As if it is truth-telling rather than the truth itself that is divisive.
Insofar as the racist blindspots of our political leaders, law enforcement and media persist, I worry that a new story emerges, one that inadvertently pits Jewish and First Nations communities against each other. But our plights are not at odds. Treating them as such overlooks decades of solidarity dating back to Yorta Yorta leader William Cooper’s protest against the Holocaust in 1938, and does a disservice to the collective pursuit of justice.
In writing this, someone accused me of instrumentalising antisemitism in the cause of Indigenous politics. I imagine they meant that antisemitism and racism are distinct, and should be treated as such. But while all forms of discrimination are indeed unique, they must be understood as cut from the same cloth, and fought together. As Jewish people, we should be able to acknowledge instances where we have received the warranted standard of recognition and support in the aftermath of terror. And in holding that truth, we should be able to demand better for our First Nations friends, on whose unceded lands we live.
Solidarity with First Peoples and all those affected by the Boorloo terror attack. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
About the author
Tahlia Bowen (she/her)
Tahlia is a Jewish writer of Ashkenazi and Papua New Guinean heritage. She is an executive member of the Jewish Council of Australia.
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