How terror fears have changed Jewish youth camps and community life
A few years ago, young Jewish children attending the annual youth camp in NSW cried at night because they missed home.
But children were crying for a different reason after the Bondi terror attack, the leader of a Jewish youth group told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Wednesday.
“Many people who were usually homesick suddenly started crying because they were afraid someone would come and kill them in their sleep,” said the leader, who took the pseudonym ACV to protect his identity.
“It was very, very real.”
As the commission continues its hearings on security issues in the Jewish community, ACV told the commission how things have changed since his own childhood spent attending similar camps.
There are no pool days, movie days or picnics for today’s kids, and attendees can no longer wear Jewish clothing. Most of the youth group’s activities now take place in a secure synagogue.
“Parents are much more concerned about the safety of their young people, and we are thinking much more carefully about where and when to host events,” ACV told Commissioner Virginia Bell.
“Parents don’t want to send their children somewhere where they won’t be safe… There’s a real threat that if we’re not protected, someone might want to harm us.”
ACV said that at holiday camps, leaders make children turn off the location settings on their phones “so that no one can come and find the campsite.”
“At their last camp as a participant [used to] They go out one day and go explore the town or go to a river. But we don’t do that anymore because why would we risk it?”
The commission also heard that the number of antisemitic incidents recorded by the Jewish community reached record numbers last year; this was part of a broader escalation since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza.
But three Victoria Police witnesses confirmed it was difficult to gather and compile information on racially motivated attacks. The LEAP (Law Enforcement Assistance Program) police database relied on individual officers to detect racially motivated incidents, and there was no type of data in the system that would allow figures to be derived.
“There are mechanisms to address anti-Semitic incidents, but they are not that reliable,” said Kelvin Gale, acting commander of Victoria Police’s counter-terrorism investigation unit.
“We’re obviously looking at ways to improve the connectivity of our systems – and not just the capture of that information, but also its usability,” said Chris Gilbert, deputy police commissioner for the Southern Metropolitan Region, where most of Melbourne’s Jewish community lives.
Gilbert said social interaction between Victoria Police and Jewish groups, including security groups, had increased since 2023 and had rebounded since the Bondi Beach terror attack, which “sees us now deployed more than ever before”.
Naomi Levin, chief executive of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said there were 564 reports of antisemitism in Victoria last year, the highest number ever. He is the latest of many witnesses who have observed an explosion of hostility towards his community since 2023.
The tightening of security in Jewish settlements meant that the community was closed off to the world for security reasons.
“We are creating unwelcoming fronts in our Jewish community facilities,” Levin said Wednesday. “I think this creates the impression that we want to be shut down or locked down about our community, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”
It also affects community members, he said.
“When Jewish community events are over, it’s… ‘get to your cars quickly; don’t wander around.’ That limits the opportunities we have with social ties… we lose the opportunity to have those informal opportunities… That will ultimately weaken the fabric of our community.”
The third day of the fifth block of the royal commission also heard from Deakin University associate professor and terrorism expert Josh Roose, who investigates how and why terrorists choose their targets.
Before moving into a closed session to discuss more sensitive issues, Roose told the commission he had examined 100 terrorists in a series of plots and attacks between 2004 and 2024.
The overarching finding was that “terrorists are rational actors” when it comes to choosing an attack target, meaning they are deliberate in their choices.
Roose said first that the attacks, by definition, have a “symbolic component” that involves conveying a political or religious message. Secondly, there was a pragmatic element.
“For example, some sites may seem too difficult to reach and may be bypassed in favor of a potentially more vulnerable event where they can maximize lethality and messaging.
“The target is really selected based on a number of factors, including access, familiarity, security and available weapons and ultimately their capabilities,” he said.
He made a distinction between fixed targets and “events”, saying the latter was more difficult to defend.
Roose told the commission that both the venue and the group meeting there could carry symbolism for terrorists. This involved strengthening infrastructure as well as developing a “deeper intelligence picture”, good communication and partnerships between different relevant organizations and patrols – “people who are actually acting in the environment”.
“This is much easier to achieve with a fixed site that is already well known… much more difficult to achieve this with an event,” Roose admitted.
There was no specific mention of the attack on Hanukkah by the Sea celebrations at Bondi Beach in December last year. Bell had previously made it clear that these issues would not be discussed in detail so that the commission would not undermine the trial of one of the suspects.
Youth camp leader ACV said he thought the more Australians knew about the history and culture of Judaism, the safer his community would be.
He said Australian students from kindergarten onwards should be “taught the true history of the Jewish people and the accurate representation of Jewish culture and the Jewish people”.
“People don’t really understand what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be a minority in Australia, and I think that’s a huge failure of the education system,” he said.
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Michael Bachelard is The Age’s senior writer and former deputy editor and research editor. He has worked in Canberra, Melbourne and Jakarta, written two books and won several awards for journalism, including the Gold Walkley.Connect with: X or email.
