We saw evil and didn’t look away
Human nature dictates we will always be tested. Most recently, it has been by the rapid and despicable rise of anti-Semitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Australia has not been immune from the curse. It has challenged our sense of identity and for our Jewish citizens their sense of safety in a way they thought would never be possible on our shores. Steven Lowy told editor-at-large Paul Kelly in September 2024: “Good people need to speak up when we see what is happening in Australia.” This is something that strikes a deep chord at The Australian and is in part the reason we are publishing a book that collates our reporting and commentary of the nation’s descent into turmoil because of the actions of terrorists half a world away.
In her introduction, editor-in-chief Michelle Gunn says the book records the efforts of many good people, Jewish and non-Jewish, who step up to defend Australian values. We will always be faithful to our duty to truth-telling and unvarnished reporting without fear or favour.
The new book, A Different Country, is an unflinching record of our efforts to grapple in real time with the impact of October 7 and what came next, not just for Israel but for the world and for Australia.
Gunn says we witnessed the shock of a Jewish community being isolated, demonised and itself the target of potentially deadly attacks. “We wrote about it. We did not look away,” she said.
This has been a time for vigilance, to stare down the evil intent of others and to bear witness. A Different Country is a lasting testament to what this responsibility looks like, what it demands, and how important it is and always will be.
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Deplorable gag over goldmine
Good governance demands public and institutional engagement, as summed up so neatly in the aphorism “the price of freedom is eternal vigilance”. Vigilance is necessary to deliver on the wise words of John Stuart Mill in an address at the University of St Andrews in 1867 that “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing”.