Marking October 7, Australian PM says local Jews have ‘felt the cold shadows of antisemitism’

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in a statement that the day carried “terrible pain” and his government “unequivocally” condemned Hamas’s attack on Israel a year ago.

Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel on October 7 a year ago, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Albanese said that since the attack, Jewish Australians have “felt the cold shadows of antisemitism reaching into the present day — and as a nation we say never again.”

“We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith,” Albanese says.

He adds that “every innocent life matters” and the number of civilians killed in the conflict was “a devastating tragedy.”

“Today we reflect on the truth of our shared humanity, of the hope that peace is possible, and the belief that it belongs to all people,” Albanese says.