Why did Bondi hero overshadow mass murder of Jews in the headlines?

As soon as the news reached me, I contacted family, here in London, and in Australia. Chanukah events are communal gatherings, open to families, children, the elderly. I needed to know they were safe. The immediacy of our private networks stood in contrast to the hesitancy of public broadcasters. Sky News, too, was behind the curve. Their guests and on-air staff tiptoed delicately around proper front-on exploration of the anti-Jewish nature of the attack. I switched channel.

On i24news, where I have worked as chief UK correspondent for more than a decade, the Hebrew-language broadcast was already ahead. Despite the distance and language barrier, Israeli media was providing a clearer picture. Once again, it outpaced Western outlets on a story involving Jewish lives, even from halfway across the globe.

When I was booked to comment early on by GB News, I provided context: antisemitic arson attacks on synagogues in Australia over the last few months, coordinated Iranian backed attacks in Australia, the vulnerabilities Jewish communities have faced in recent years.

It seemed obvious that such background was essential to understanding this event. Yet much of the British media still refrained. GB News, to its credit, updated its coverage constantly, including footage of the man who intervened to disarm one of the attackers. That man, a former Syrian policeman now living in Australia, was rightly praised. His courage deserves recognition.

But the next day’s front pages revealed something telling. The dominant story in some papers was not the victims, nor the nature of the attack, but the heroism of the bystander. The narrative quickly shifted to his personal history, his immigration story, his bravery. While inspiring, this editorial focus jarred with the gravity of what had taken place. In past attacks on British soil, victims' stories have been central. Here, they seemed less so. The fact that the dead were Jews seemed, to some outlets, secondary.

Why? Was it caution? A fear of provoking backlash? Or was it the long shadow of editorial discomfort around stories involving Jews and Israel? One cannot say for sure. But these questions linger, especially for a community that has seen bias and omission before.

Perhaps we expect too much. News moves fast, and global communication makes us impatient for precision. But awareness also makes us attuned to pattern. And when Jewish identity is central to a story yet slow to appear in the coverage, it is reasonable to notice. This was a terrorist attack targeting Jews, at a Jewish event, in a public space. It was also an attack on Australian society, on civic freedom, on celebration itself.

All we ask is that it be reported that way.