We now bear the scars of terror

In the wake of May’s attack at the Jewish Museum of Belgium, during which a known jihadist shot dead four people, The AJN ran a front page image of ISIS gunmen in Syria, with the accompanying headline “Destination Australia?”

That week, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told us she was “deeply concerned”  about the domestic threat posed by Australians who had fought or were fighting with Islamist groups in the Middle East and who would return to these shores, radicalised by their experience.

In the months that followed, public awareness of ISIS grew and our authorities confirmed just how seriously they were taking the threat of homegrown terrorism.

We reeled in horror as captives in Syria were beheaded, we learnt of the thousands of innocent civilians slain across the region and we were warned, in no uncertain terms, that the conflict was not confined to the iIddle East, as the West itself could well be targeted by jihadists.

It was only a matter of time.

October saw a succession of incidents in Canada and now, this week, the world looked on aghast as Australia was subject to its own nightmare scenario with the hostage crisis at the Lindt cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place.

No sooner had details emerged than the Community Security Group (CSG) heightened the alert level for Jewish institutions across the country, stepping up measures to ensure the safety of those inside.

As the day wore on into the night, we watched our TVs and computers, gripped as the drama unfolded – first three people fleeing the building, then another two – each moment of the siege caught on camera.

And then we awoke to the news that it was all over. Police had stormed the cafe. The gunman, Man Haron Monis was dead, alongside two of his hostages, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson.

As further details emerged, we learnt of Haron Monis’s past. A self-styled Iranian, he was known to the authorities, charged as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife and a number of counts of sexual assault. He had also sent abusive letters to the families of Australian soldiers who had fallen in Afghanistan, among them Jewish serviceman Greg Sher, declaring “A Jewish man who kills innocent Muslims, civilians is not a pig. He’s a thousand times worse.”

How had this man got a gun? Why was he free on bail? As yet, the questions are still being asked, but as an Englishman now living in Melbourne, one thing is for sure.

Unlike Britain, Australia was not baptised in the fire of terrorism. Over the past half a century, the UK endured the IRA bombings, the Iranian Embassy seige, and 7/7. Until this week, however, Down Under was a world away.

Today thought that has changed, along with the national mood. Australia now bears the scars, the population is in shock and mourning, and we – along with the rest of the Western World – know the threat of terror is all too real.

ZEDDY LAWRENCE