Jewish cafe patrons, sitting quietly chatting over their drinks, were subjected to a threatening tirade from a complete stranger, who accused them of being part of a “genocidal race.”
The two men, easily identifiable as Jewish thanks to their yarmulkes, and a woman were sitting at the cafe in the Bondi Junction shopping center in Sydney’s east on Wednesday afternoon when the irate woman approached their table .
She began berating them about the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
A group of Jewish customers at a cafe in Sydney’s east were accosted by an angry stranger who accused them of genocide over Israeli actions in Gaza.
“What you did…” she shouted during an incident filmed Wednesday afternoon by journalist Alison Bevege and published on her Substack. Letters from Australia.
“You will disperse again,” the woman said, apparently referring to the dispersal of Jews across the world following historical persecution.
The group at the table responded in a reasoned tone but the woman shouted them down.
“Your people, your race is committing genocide,” she said.
“Bombard international health aid, for God’s sake. Bombing of hospitals in Palestine.
“Officially, 25,000 people died, children, old women, old men.”
In the video, other onlookers can be seen filming the exchange as the woman storms towards the elevators at Eastgate Mall.
“The young woman sitting at the cafe had only arrived in Sydney yesterday,” Ms Bevege wrote in her Substack.
“She was only in Australia for a day before she was mistreated.”
Ms. Bevege also wrote that she “challenged the woman as she retreated toward the elevators before giving words of comfort to the shocked Jews.”
“It is important, but sad, to remember that this woman truly believed she was doing the right thing,” she wrote.
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that Jews were being increasingly openly targeted.
“Unfortunately, these scenes are becoming commonplace,” he said.
The woman also threatened that Jews would be “scattered”, referring to the dispersal of Jews to escape persecution.
“We are aware of numerous incidents where Jews were mistreated in the streets.
“Anti-Israel activists claim not to be anti-Semitic, but their actions often end up leading to attacks on Jews in Australia.
“The federal government has demonstrated a complete failure of leadership to address the rise in anti-Semitism.”
