Day of pain: sirens ring out to mark attack on Israel
Allanah Sciberras |
Feelings of sorrow, fear and trauma remain raw within Australia’s Jewish community two years after the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Community members gathered at Melbourne’s inner city Goldstone Gallery before dawn on Tuesday to remember those killed and taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
The gallery was filled with mourners, with several breaking down in tears as sirens rang out at 6.29am – the exact time the massacre began at the Nova music festival near the border with Gaza.
The community stood in silence. The only sounds were the sirens and quiet sobs as a message from the families of the victims showed on a screen.
They included Ayala Puder, the mother of Maya Puder, a 26-year-old first-year film director student who was killed while hiding in a bomb shelter at the festival.
She also features in the installation Nova Faces, at the gallery, which depicts more than 70 faces and personal stories of the Nova victims, images and testimonies.
Jewish artist Nina Sanadze curated the exhibition, which spans over two floors and features a documentary and VR film, photography, sculpture, live performance and poetry.
She told AAP it was a watershed moment in contemporary history.
“This is a comprehensive show to commemorate and go back and look at what happened because there has been a lot of denial and refusal,” Ms Sanadze said.
“The whole exhibition, while we have many personal stories, it really hinges on three big stories, (including) Maya Puda.”
Visitors to the exhibition received a stamp bearing the name “Maya”, a replica of the tattoo her mother wears in her memory.
Ms Sanadze spoke while wearing a copy of the T-shirt that Maya was seen in before her death.
“This exhibition is about rehumanising Jewish and Israeli people through personal stories and lived experiences,” she said.
“It reveals who and what was attacked on October 7, and how that day ruptured the world, not only in the Middle East, but globally”.
Ms Sanadze is also behind the installation Grief Stones, which uses stones made from the charred metal from Melbourne’s Adass synagogue, which was the target of an arson attack in December.
Director Danny Ben-Moshe, whose work is also displayed in the gallery, told AAP it was disheartening the gathering couldn’t take place in a more public setting.
Security guards had to be employed to ensure the safety of attendees, many of whom did not want to speak to the media.
“The positive is the determination and the fact that so many people came out, to hear a siren and stand in silence in vigil to remember, demonstrates the depth of commitment and determination by Australian Jews,” Mr Ben-Moshe said.
October 7 marks two years since militant groups including Hamas – designated a terrorist organisation by the Australian government – crossed the border from Gaza into southern Israel at 6.29am local time.
Some 1200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage during the Hamas cross-border attack two years ago.
The attack triggered an Israeli military campaign that has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities.
Commemorations are expected to continue across Australia on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described October 7 as “a day of pain and terror for Jewish people around the world”.
AAP
