City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has decided that the Moment Of Unity‘s Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon projections will also feature a menorah (Jewish candelabrum) & the word ‘UNITY’ whilst lengthening the segment beyond the length of the minute’s silence.
On Monday morning, 30 Jewish-Australian cultural figures wrote a signed open letter to City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, urging the City to project a “Jewish-specific symbol” onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons to commemorate the victims killed in the Bondi Beach Jewish genocide terrorist attack on 14 December.
Signatories included:
- Pulitzer Prize For Fiction-winning writer, Geraldine Brooks,
- Australian Recording Industry Association Best Female Artist Award-winning rock musician, Deborah Conway,
- Archibald Prize winning-still life portrait painter, Yvette Coppersmith &
- Walkey Documentary Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Danny Ben-Moshe
We acknowledge the City Of Sydney’s plan as a gesture of remembrance & agree with the need for such a gesture. However, we consider the imagery & word chosen to be insufficient as they do not acknowledge the Jewish particularity of the Bondi massacre.
The selection of this word, coupled with the dove, without any specific reference to the targeting of the Jewish community, prolongs our erasure & obfuscates the problem of domestic antisemitism.
Open Letter signed by 30 Jewish-Australian cultural figures
They claimed their antisemitism warnings had been dismissed by “generic calls for peace” since 2023.
On Monday afternoon, the Lord Mayor said the City would continue to listen to the community to ensure the Bondi Beach massacre & Jewish genocide terrorism acknowledgement on NYE was appropriate. She agreed with the open letter signatories’ sediments & decided a menorah and the word ‘UNITY’ will also be projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons during the Moment Of Unity:
Following the minute silence, a projection of the peace dove & the words ‘PEACE’ & ‘UNITY’ will be shown on the pylons.
There are no words that can make this moment easier nor explain the evil we have seen.
Clover Moore, City Of Sydney Lord Mayor
The above quote indicates the Moment Of Unity will now go at least 2 minutes.
In October 2023, New South Wales (NSW) Premier, Chris Minns, implied that once a decision was made to do a Jewish-related projection in response to terrorist events, that the NSW Government would give the Jewish community an opportunity to commemorate and mourn the death of innocent civilians & for the sense of loss that that community had felt, at a nearby vantage point. In response to the City Of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, deciding to project a menorah on the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons, which the NSW Government manages, an NSW Government spokesperson said:
The planning and delivery of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and projections sit with the City Of Sydney.
The New South Wales Government remains in close consultation with the community, particularly the impacted Jewish community, about appropriate supports & ways to recognise the attack.
NSW Government spokesperson
In short, the NSW Government is still closely consulting with the impacted Jewish community & in any case, it is the City Of Sydney’s choice about what is projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons for NYE. Anyway, back to the news of the whole Moment Of Unity expansion:
I’m very relieved, I’m very pleased & I’m very grateful that the Lord Mayor has made this change.
Danny Ben-Moshe, Walkey Documentary Award-winning documentary filmmaker
Danny Ben-Moshe also said the Moment Of Unity‘s expansion would “enable Jewish Australians & Jewish tourists to participate in that NYE event with a sense of inclusion rather than exclusion, perhaps with an element of hope rather than despair”.’
The initial plans, which are still going ahead, were also revealed to be made by the City Of Sydney in consultation with the Jewish Board Of Deputies.
This announcement was made on December 29 at around 8pm.
Sydney New Year’s Eve 2025 will begin at 2pm AEDT on Wednesday the 31st of December 2025.
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