What would it take for me to feel safe wearing a kippah after Bondi? | Glen Berman

Jewish safety after Bondi will only be found by tackling radicalisation across Australia head on

What would it take for me to feel safe wearing a kippah (a Jewish head covering) on a daily basis? This is a question I have been asking myself since 14 December. Which is not to suggest that I felt safe – or maybe comfortable is a better adjective – being Jewish in public before the Bondi massacre, but is to say that the question has suddenly become far more urgent.

I do not feel safe wearing a kippah because I fear that to many Australians this would be interpreted as a sign that I support Israel. I do not want people to make assumptions about my politics based on my appearance. And, more prosaically, in terms of my fear, I do not want to be shouted at when I’m going to the shops. I do not feel safe wearing a kippah because all of my life I’ve overheard non-Jewish people sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories. Greedy, cheap, power hungry, in control of the media. A host of conscious and unconscious biases inform how people react to Jews – to wear a kippah is to invite these reactions.