Thousands of mourners gather at Bondi Beach to honor victims of anti-Semitic attack

Thousands of mourners gathered under heavy police security at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to mark one week since two gunmen targeted a Jewish holiday. killed 15 people. Since then, Australian governments have been spurred into action fight against anti-Semitism and I’m already tightening strict national gun controls.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his predecessors John Howard and Scott Morrison, as well as Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state, King Charles III, were among the dignitaries attending the commemoration which attracted more than 10,000 people.

“This must be the lowest point of anti-Semitism in our country,” New South Wales Jewish Council of Deputies president David Ossip told the crowd. “This is certainly the time when the light begins to eclipse the darkness.”

The crowd booed Albanese when Ossip acknowledged his presence. Opposition leader Sussan Ley, who said a conservative government led by her would reverse a decision made this year by Albanese’s center-left Labor government of recognize a Palestinian statewas acclaimed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Albanese over the attack on the Hannukah celebration, saying “your call for Palestinian state fuels the anti-Semitic fire.” Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for Palestinian statehood and criticism of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza following the 2023 Hamas attack to growing incidents of anti-Semitism around the world.

A national day of reflection to honor the victims

Images of the victims, aged between 10 and 87, were projected during the commemoration. “Waltzing Matilda” was sung in honor of the youngest victim, whose Ukrainian parents gave their Australian-born daughter what they described as the most Australian name they knew.

Widely acclaimed massacre hero, Ahmed al-Ahmedsent a message of support from his hospital bed. In a video viewed millions of times around the world, the immigrant of Syrian origin was seen attacking one of the armed menremoving the man’s shotgun from his grip and turning it towards the attacker. On Tuesday, Albanese said that “Ahmed al Ahmed represents the best of our country.”

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Today I stand with you, my brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

His father, Mohamed Fateh al Ahmed, was invited to light a candle on the Jewish candelabra known as the menorah on the last night of Hannukah.

Beyond the famous beach, people across Australia united with Sydney’s stricken Jewish community by lighting candles and observing a minute’s silence in their homes at 6:47 p.m. to remember the moment the massacre unfolded. Television and radio networks across Australia also remained silent.

The federal and New South Wales state governments declared Sunday a national day of reflection to mark Australia’s worst mass shooting since 35 deaths in Tasmania in 1996.

Albanese earlier announced a review of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies following last week’s attack, inspired by the Islamic State group.

Indigenous leaders held a traditional smoking ceremony on Sunday morning at the waterfront Bondi Pavilion, where an impromptu memorial grew as flowers and heartfelt messages piled up. The memorial is scheduled to be cleaned on Monday.

Mostyn, the governor general, accepted an invitation from the National Council of Jewish Women for women of all faiths to lay a flower at the memorial Sunday morning. Hundreds of women and girls dressed in white joined her in making this gesture.

She then delivered a message from the British monarch saying he and Queen Camilla were “dismayed and saddened by the most terrible anti-Semitic attack on the Jewish people, the celebration of Hannukah on Bondi Beach.”

Increased security at Bondi Beach

One of the suspects, Naveed Akram, 24, was shot dead by police. He was charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to kill injured persons. His father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.

The Department of Health said on Sunday that 13 of the injured from Bondi remained in hospital in Sydney.

Police increased security around Bondi on Sunday, including officers armed with rifles. There was criticism that police first responders last week were armed only with Glock pistols, which lacked the lethal range of the attackers’ rifles and rifles. Two police officers were seriously injured.

Flags were lowered to half-mast on the Sydney Harbor Bridge and government buildings, which were lit yellow on Sunday evening in a sign of solidarity with the Jewish community.

Australian Jewish Community Executive Council co-leader Alex Ryvchin said victims’ families felt “tragically and unforgivably let down” by the government’s failure to tackle rising anti-Semitism in Australia since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in 2023.

A day after the attack, an emergency meeting of federal and state leaders pledged to strengthen the nation’s gun laws with measures including limiting the number of weapons an individual can own. Sajid Akram legally owned six firearms, including the two shotguns and two bolt-action rifles used in Bondi.

The New South Wales state parliament will sit on Monday to debate new bills on hate speech and guns.