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.
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 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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