A charity concert planned to raise funds for victims of a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been canceled after the Greek choir scheduled to participate refused to perform alongside a Jewish choir.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that the Australian Hellenic Choir, a 50-member ensemble, voted against the joint performance with the Sydney Jewish Choral Society. According to reports, a majority of members raised “political objections" to sharing the stage, while some also said they did not feel comfortable or safe performing with Jewish singers.
The event, titled “Concert for Hope and Unity," had received government support and was intended as a symbol of interfaith solidarity. It was also set to feature “The Ballad of Mauthausen," a work about a relationship between Greek and Jewish prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp. The two choirs had previously performed the piece together in 2022 without incident.
James Tsolakis, founder and president of the Greek choir, said he was surprised by the decision. “I was not expecting this to happen at all as we’d performed with the Jewish choir without issue in 2022," he told Australian media. He added that changing attitudes may reflect the broader political climate. “The Jewish people are all into it, I’m into it, but the Greek choir was a bit anti doing it because of the political climate," he said.
Tsolakis also noted growing tensions within parts of the community. “There’s a bit of antisemitism in the Greek community; I didn’t realize the extent of it," he said, adding that some people were wrongly attributing blame to Jewish communities for events in the Middle East. “You want to hate Netanyahu? Hate Netanyahu, but what have the Jewish people done to you?"
The cancellation comes amid heightened tensions in Australia following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Jewish communities have reported increased protests, exclusion from cultural spaces, and incidents of violence, including arson attacks on synagogues and a deadly shooting at the Bondi Beach Hanukkah gathering that killed 15 people.
In response to rising concerns, the Australian government has launched a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The Sydney Jewish Choral Society has lodged a complaint with the commission, with chair Anne Spira saying the incident reflected a wider pattern of exclusion. “We have been de-platformed and it is deeply upsetting," she said.
Jewish advocacy groups expressed disappointment, while some commentators described the cancellation as troubling and inappropriate in the current climate.