Bondi Beach, Antisemitism, and Australian Identity

When I think of Australia, I often think of Bondi Beach. Not just its great natural beauty, its hip cosmopolitan but casual feel but also because of its importance in my own family history.

My grandfather, Ken Harcourt, a Jew from Lismore, born of Romanian and Polish refugee parents, grew up in Bondi and he and his brother Sam spent most mornings in the surf and most afternoons at the track at Randwick. Ken, originally named Kopel Harkowitz, was the son of immigrants from Transylvania (which is sometimes considered Romania, sometimes Hungary but if I am talking to Frank Lowy, it’s definitely Hungary) and Poland. Kopel’s mother Dinah Harkowitz always wanted her eldest son to be a Rabbi, but young Kopel wanted to be a true blue Aussie lifesaver at Bondi. He had trouble getting in the club as Kopel Harkowitz but when he fronted as Ken Harcourt, they said “no worries.” When I asked my grandfather why he changed his name, he used to say, “Well, I didn’t really, I just went from the Goldberg’s to the Ice Bergs.” Sam became a Harcourt too and they became professional punters and even had a radio show named after them called “The Racing Harcourts.”

So that’s why I am a Harcourt, and why Bondi Beach means so much to me. In fact, in my first published book, Beyond Our Shores, I deliberately chose the Bondi beach as its cover. I thought it symbolic that a son of Eastern European migrants from way beyond our shores was aspiring to be a true blue Aussie lifesaver at Bondi. In fact, a major theme of the book has been how important Australia’s immigration has been to our export performance and our national economic prosperity. Waves of English, Irish, Italian, Scottish, Greek, Jewish, Russian, Chinese, Lebanese, New Zealand, and Indonesian migrants have all done their bit to grow Australia’s links with the world. Many of them have become lifesavers too! This is so special to Sydney and nowhere is this so apparent than here at Bondi, with its great mix of languages and cultures.

But what would Kopel Harkowitz make of Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025? Like most decent Australians he would have been shocked at the explosion of antisemitism and the weakness of modern Australian political leadership. My grandfather was a proud Australian as well as a proud Jew and thought Australia was the safest and most democratic country in the world. And he loved Christmas, Anzac Day, and all the civic celebrations and thought religion, like voting, was a private matter, not to be imposed on others.

I am sure he would have been shocked at the chants at the Sydney Opera House just after 7 October 2023, and the weak federal government response. He would have been shocked at people marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge chanting “globalise the intifada” and at the intimidation of the Jewish community, with people travelling to Bondi every weekend to wave flags and chant slogans. He would have feared for the safety of Jewish staff and students on Australian university campuses and I suspect he would have been amazed at what was broadcast on his beloved ABC.

And he would have been right. The intimidation since the Sydney Opera House chants up to the shootings at Bondi must stop. It’s not “balancing Islamophobia with antisemitism,” which the federal government seems to think it is, it’s all of the Australian community against the fundamentalist Islamicist terrorists. The attack on the Jewish Hannukah celebration at Bondi was an attack on all of us. Bondi is Australia, Australia is Bondi Beach. It’s symbolic that the hero of the day was an Aussie fruit and veg shop owner (himself of Syrian origin) who tackled the terrorist gunman and in doing so saved many lives. Responsible Muslim nations like Morocco and UAE take a hard line against terrorists, so should the West, starting with Australia.

My grandfather knew that, and that’s why he loved Australia. May his memory be a blessing.