Sydney’s grieving Jewish community has gathered at Bondi Beach, just metres from where 15 people were gunned down a week earlier, in a solemn act of mournful defiance.
Thousands of people turned out for the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies community vigil to honour the victims and survivors of last Sunday’s antisemitic terrorist attack that has shocked the country.
At 6:47pm, one week to the minute after the father-and-son gunmen began firing upon families gathered at Archer Park for an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah, silence fell across the dusk gathering on the final night of the festival of light.
Thousands attended the event. (ABC: Jack Fisher)
The sombre tone was soon broken when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed and heckled as he was introduced to the crowd, in contrast to a standing ovation for NSW Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader and local MP Kellie Sloane, who was hailed a “hero” for her actions last Sunday.
“Last week Kellie made the choice, in the midst of the attack, to go down to Bondi Beach, to go to where the incident was taking place, and she provided assistance to those who were injured and gave shelter to those who needed it,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said.
“That is bravery. That is courage.”
There were reports of up to 20,000 attendees at the event. (ABC News: Che Chorley )
Mr Ossip used his speech to back calls for a Commonwealth royal commission into the terrorist attack.
“In a more just world, we wouldn’t be trying to pick up the pieces and understand how last week took place,” he said.
“How, after two years of escalating antisemitism and warnings from the Jewish community and ASIO that lives were going to be lost, that the terrorist attack still took place?
“Because whilst we are all in shock, and deeply sad, we are not surprised. We feared and suspected that this moment was coming.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attracted boos and heckles at the event. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Mr Albanese, who has been criticised for not doing more to address concerns about rising antisemitism and on Sunday announced a review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, did not speak to the gathering.
Mr Ossip’s tribute to Ahmed Al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the gunmen, received a rapturous response, and he shared a message from Mr Ahmed with the crowd: “The Lord is close to the broken hearted. Today I stand with you, my brothers and sisters.”
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He urged Australians to step up to create “what we want the society to look like”.
“This has to be the nadir of antisemitism in our country, this has to be the moment when light starts to eclipse the darkness.”
Hundreds turned out for the vigil, held on the national day of reflection. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin vowed to return with his family to Bondi Beach for the first night of Hanukkah next year.
“I’m willing to accept that we will now live with uncertainty. Even with fear. That is a price I will pay,” he said.
“But I will not hide who I am — an Australian and a Jew.”
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‘We must never let this happen again’
Governor-General Sam Mostyn used her address to “recommit my solidarity with Jewish Australians, in the spirit of love, belonging, gratitude and unity”.
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She drew on the contribution of Jewish Australians through the country’s history, including her predecessor Sir Zelman Cowen and Holocaust survivors, and their example of building unity.
“We must never let this happen again. We must commit to being a nation where every Australian has the right to belong in peace and safety,” she said.
Thousands turned out for the sombre service. (ABC News: Che Chorley )
Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky of Chabad Headquarters invoked the example of his friend Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the attack, who he said sought to unify Jews and non-Jews to create a better world.
“Eli, you did this, not just here, not just today but over the past week around the world,” he said.
“Because when a community stands tall, the world notices.”
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Mr Minns was met with applause and greeted the crowd, saying: “Bondi is beautiful tonight.”
“It is beautiful because you, in your thousands, in your defiance, with your resistance and resolve, you have returned to the sand just seven days after a shocking crime, and have said to the terrorists: ‘We are going nowhere.'”
Why the contrast between Minns and Albanese has been so stark
He said the government’s failure to protect those who gathered for the first night of Hanukkah weighed heavily on him.
“We must accept that responsibility and use that to do everything and anything we possibly can to stop it from happening again.
“To excuse it as an aberration or a tragic single event is wrong. It will not do justice to the killed and wounded, and will not allow us to take steps to stop it from happening again.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns received a standing ovation at the commemoration. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Mourners light candles and lay flowers in a makeshift memorial along Bondi Beach’s promenade. (ABC News: Fiona Willan)
He said peace needed to be pursued by all Australians.
During the gathering a solitary column of light was beamed into the sky from the nearby Bondi Pavilion, which has been the scene of growing floral tributes over the past week.
Read more on the Bondi Beach shooting:
Opposition leader and first responder pays tribute to ‘heroes’
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Ms Sloane recounted her experience on the night of the attack.
She said she had planned to deliver a speech reflecting hope after a year that began with higher police patrols to deter antisemitic vandalism and graffiti attacks across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Instead, she was called on to help save lives while gunmen fired upon families from the bridge above.
“I saw police running into this scene fast and unhesitating, with guns drawn, headed into danger,” she said.
“I tried my best to help, a surf lifesaver told me: ‘Grab bandages’. I said, ‘What do I do?’ And he said, ‘Plug the holes.'”
“I ended up sitting next to people and holding their hands, putting blankets over people who we couldn’t help anymore.
“I had people fall into my arms who were grief-stricken because they felt that they hadn’t done enough, and we all felt that way. But, man, I saw them as heroes, and they were heroes.”
Matilda’s parents embrace as Waltzing Matilda is sung. (ABC News: Che Chorley )
A young woman holds a bee balloon in memory of the youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda. (ABC News: Jack Fisher)
Singer David Campbell sang Waltzing Matilda in honour of 10-year-old Matilda, who was the youngest victim of the attack, while the crowd lit candles and waved their phone torches above them and the girl’s parents embraced.
Chabad of Bondi director Rabbi Yehoram Ulman said last week that the community event at Bondi was prevented from lighting the candle for the first night of Hanukkah.
“Tonight we are going to light all eight,” he said.
“We are responding with more light, more love and more unity.”
Australia lights a candle to dispel the darkness
He went on to again pay tribute to his son-in-law, Rabbi Schlanger, who he said “treated everyone as precious”.
“Darkness is transformed by light, and that light begins with what each of us chooses to do next, and returning to normal is not enough,” he said.
“Sydney can and must become a beacon of goodness.”
Prominent members of the Bondi Jewish and wider community, including Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed and Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon, helped light the menorah.
Officers carrying long-arm firearms patrolled the vigil, not due to a heightened security alert but to provide a safe space for a respectful vigil, Commissioner Lanyon said.
Armed security patrolled nearby rooftops. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
Police officers with long-arm firearms have been deployed to Bondi Beach. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The vigil wrapped up a national day of reflection, marked in Sydney by the flag on the Harbour Bridge flying at half-mast and a plane passing over Bondi Beach reading “Love from Aus for our Jewish Community”.
Later in the evening the Sydney Opera House was lit up with a flickering candle.
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A message of support in the sky over Bondi Beach. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
On Sunday night hundreds of people gathered in Melbourne for a Hanukkah vigil and candle-lighting ceremony.
Faith and community leaders who spoke at the event, organised by the Jewish Council of Australia, spoke of grief, fear and solidarity, describing the violence as an attack on the right to gather and practise tradition safely.
People gather at Melbourne event on, marking one week on from Bondi attack.
