It’s first Australians’ turn to speak out for our Jewish allies

The Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv. Picture: Leo Correa/AP Photo

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Right now I am in Jerusalem with a delegation of Aboriginal Australians, many of whom are stepping on to the land for the first time. We are here to listen, learn and bear witness to the story of a people who, like us, are indigenous to their ancestral homeland and have endured centuries of hardship, displacement and conflict. Our purpose is not only to learn their history but also to carry that truth back to Australia.

Our journey began in Jerusalem, a city layered with history. For hundreds of generations, Jewish people have prayed at the Western Wall, the ancient retaining wall of the Temple Mount. Their connection to this land predates recorded Christian and Muslim presence.

Likewise, deep within us as First Nations Australians is that same connection; a deep breath through our ancestors’ bones, a land encoded with memory and meaning.

For Christians, Jerusalem is the site of Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. For Muslims, it is the sacred setting of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

Since arriving in Israel we have sheltered repeatedly from missiles, drones and rockets launched mostly by the Iranian regime and its proxy militia in Yemen, the Houthis.

This is not only disruption: these are war crimes. Targets include civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, places of worship and the majesty of Jerusalem itself. It is precisely at these times, inside the iron embrace of bomb shelters, that I’ve stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, Indigenous Australians and international visitors.

We’re reminded that each life matters. We all benefit equally from early-warning sirens, evacuation protocols, precision defence systems such as the Iron Dome, even welfare payments and healthcare afterwards. No exceptions. Contrast this with those who deliberately exploit civilian populations as shields. Hamas has constructed 700km of tunnels beneath Gaza, often under hospitals and schools, offering cover for its military while risking the lives of those it claims to protect.

This strategy, tragically, creates headlines but hides a calculated tactic to exploit civilian pain for propaganda.

We’ve also witnessed Israel’s integrated civil defence. Israel is an ancient civilisation preserved through modern innovation: underground shelters in every city, air-raid systems in every school, Iron Dome interceptions daily, mobile evacuation alerts, defibrillators on every street. These are the defences of a people determined to preserve life, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Just as Israel defends life inside its own borders, it seeks to minimise civilian death when fighting its enemies. As much as possible Israel warns civilians and pursues targeted strikes against known military threats. Every civilian casualty is taken seriously. Every investigation is public.

Australian Nova Peris, third from the left, is in Israel as part of a study tour. Picture: Facebook

We, as Indigenous Australians – who have seen the resilience and fragility of our own communities – stand in admiration of that accountability.

This is a moment for moral clarity. Our delegation has seen the faces of those who defended life on Saturday night. We have held babies saved by Israel’s Iron Dome. We have pressed hands with Jewish families who sleep in shelters, with Druze children who fear rockets from Hezbollah, with Muslims who long to worship in peace. We have listened to the stories of trauma at Majdal Shams, where Druze parents recounted losing 12 of their own children to Hezbollah rockets in 2024.

We carry those stories back to Australia and we demand our media, our leaders, our neighbours do the same. We cannot stand by while human lives are cynically used for political propaganda.

As Aboriginal Australians, we have never forgotten the immense contribution of Jewish people to our own nation. Through human rights advocacy, land rights litigation, legal representation, journalism, politics, scholarship and everyday solidarity, Jewish Australians have fought to safeguard our existence. From death-row reprieves to equitable policies, Jewish allies have shaped the lives of First Nations people.

The vision of Jewish leaders such as Sir John Monash has helped shape our nation’s military legacy. More than 9000 Jewish Australians have served in our armed forces, fighting for freedom. Their service must never be forgotten.

In broader society, Jewish Australians have enriched our literature, science, arts, politics and commerce. Among them are doctors, teachers, lawyers, actors, footballers, MPs, scholars and poets – all woven into Australia’s cultural and civic fabric. We need only look to people such as Zelman Cowen, global HIV expert David Cooper, human rights lawyer Ron Castan and a pantheon of philanthropic families – all Jewish Australians who have helped make us who we are today.

Every Australian should stand up and say: we will not tolerate anti-Semitism. We will not tolerate the denial of Israel’s right to exist, to defend its people, to preserve its Jewish heritage. Nor will we tolerate anti-Aboriginal bigotry and racism.

We must ask our government to back Israel’s right to live in peace, while supporting humanitarian efforts to care for civilians in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, who are all suffering the consequences of terror. Indigenous Australians stand with the Jewish people because we understand; because our stories are entwined. We understand displacement, intergenerational trauma, stolen childhoods, stolen languages and resilience.

As a proud Australian woman – and a proud member of the world’s oldest living culture – I leave Jerusalem, at a time of war, determined to defend Israel against the hate, threats and lies and defend its right to exist and flourish.

Nova Peris is a former senator, dual Australian Olympian and gold medallist, and an inductee into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame. The delegation of Indigenous Australians in Israel is part of an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council study tour.