The 2024 documentary We Will Dance Again is an international co-production between the US, UK and Israel. Photo: Courtesy of production We Will Dance Again.
A documentary about the Hamas attack on an Israeli music festival that started the Israeli/Palestinian war is coming to the Far South Coast to help combat the rise of antisemitism.
Grassroots Christian foundation Never Again Is Now (NAIN) is organising the screening at Club Narooma. After the screening, Eurobodalla resident Dr Fiona Kotvojs and former federal member for Eden-Monaro Dr Mike Kelly AM will speak about the issue and answer questions.
NAIN was formed in early 2024 and Dr Kotvojs started the local group in February 2025.
Dr Kotvojs said NAIN was a diverse group of people of all faiths and backgrounds who wanted to raise awareness that antisemitism was a present threat, and to stop it growing. Dr Kelly said some of the NAIN members – Iranian, Hindu and Sikh – had experienced violence and hatred and had decided it was time to stand up against antisemetic acts happening in Australia.
Dr Kotvojs said around 0.1 per cent of the population in the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla shires identified as Jewish. The biggest issue they were facing was being ignored and silenced during a very traumatic time. Circles of friends and support were withdrawing.
“The Jewish community worldwide is very small, so everybody has a family member who has been kidnapped or knows someone who has been directly affected by the Hamas attack, so we have to be empathetic,” Dr Kotvojs said.
“People have no understanding or empathy. The comments on social media and on posters displayed in our community are often hate-filled, so our Jewish community can’t discuss the trauma they are experiencing or gain support, whereas with bushfires and floods we were encouraged to talk about how we felt and to seek support.”
The documentary reconstructs the 7 October 2023 attack through a series of interviews with survivors. Photo: Courtesy of production We Will Dance Again.
Before entering politics, Dr Kelly served in the Australian Army in Somalia, East Timor, Bosnia and Iraq. He has confronted acts of genocide such as chemical attacks on Iraq’s Kurds. After 40 years of Middle East-related experience, he has a “sound appreciation” of the dynamics and realities of the region.
He said people were being asked to form opinions about things that were very complex and required an understanding of the deeper history leading to today’s situation in the Middle East. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Canberra “trying to convey the facts and truth relating to current events”.
“It is important to understand the broader dynamics to form an opinion on the current situation, including the nature of Hamas and the activities of Iran across the region and beyond,” Dr Kelly said. “This is a dynamic that has international implications well beyond the Middle East.”
Dr Kotvojs said there had been rights and wrongs on both sides and there was so much misinformation on both sides.
“Jewish people have been there for thousands of years, as have people of other religions,” she said. “Unless we sit and listen there will be no solution to this really complex situation.”
Dr Kotvojs said that in the past Australia had not accepted hatred from overseas. When the Snowy Hydro project drew in people from different countries in the 1950s, they left their hatreds behind.
Nor did Australia accept it during the break-up of Yugoslavia. The police came down on it very quickly, even curbing hostilities at soccer matches.
“We can’t apply violence and discrimination to people here because of something happening overseas,” she said. “We don’t see it with Russia and Ukraine, but for some reason it is acceptable against Jewish people.”
Phone videos and footage taken by Hamas are used to create a timeline of the attack at the Nova Music Festival on 7 October. Photo: Courtesy of production We Will Dance Again.
The documentary, We Will Dance Again, won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary. Reviews by media outlets including the New York Times and Guardian said it was a very good movie that should be seen.
It was made to remember what happened at the Nova Music Festival on 7 October 2023.
“You can forgive, but you can’t forget,” Dr Kotvojs said. “It is like the Holocaust. Once you forget, it repeats, like it is happening now.”
Dr Kotvojs said people couldn’t rely on governments to fix everything. Individuals must play a part too.
“Every Australian must say we don’t want hate in Australia in any form. We must each be working against it,” she said. “You don’t fight hate with hate, you fight it with love.”
Dr Kelly hopes the screening of the film will improve people’s knowledge.
“From knowledge comes understanding, and from understanding, hopefully empathy,” he said. “It is important to have that baseline of knowledge and everything that brings.”
We Will Dance Again will screen at Club Narooma at 3 pm on Sunday 3 August. Tickets to the 90-minute documentary cost $15. A discussion with Ms Kotvojs and Mr Kelly will follow. It is not recommended for children under the age of 15.
