A vigil was held at Bondi Beach today (Sunday), marking one week since 15 people were murdered in a terrorist shooting attack during a Hanukkah celebration at that same beach.
The event was held under heavy security, including mounted police, snipers, and hundreds of officers. Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, attended the rally and was met with boos from the crowd upon his arrival. “Shame, supporter of jihad-you do not represent Australia,” protesters were heard shouting at the prime minister.
The event began with the lighting of a single candle, followed by a minute of silence in memory of the victims.
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossi, singled out for special thanks Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who heroically disarmed with his bare hands one of the shooters who carried out the Bondi attack and was wounded saving lives.
Ossi praised Al-Ahmed, "whose unbelievable bravery saved so many lives last week. Friends, I spent time with Ahmed this morning, and his father is here with us tonight. And, friends, Ahmed has asked me to pass on the following message to us all. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted. Today I stand with you, my brothers and sisters. Thank you, my brothers and sisters. Thank you, Ahmed!"
Ossi called for a royal commission to be opened into the attack, stating: After two years of escalating antisemitism and warnings from the Jewish community and Asio that lives were going to be lost, the terrorist attack still took place. Whilst we are all in shock, and deeply sad, we are not surprised. We feared and suspected that this moment was coming. And whilst a catastrophe such as that which we experienced last week would be a tragedy if it was unexpected, how much more tragic is it that the loss of life occurred despite all the warning signs being there? And on that note - it cannot be disputed that we need a royal commission."
He added that Australia has been "always the lucky country for Jews," but following the outbreak of antisemitism over the last two years, and especially last week's attack, "we have lost our innocence."
The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, recalled his friendshup with Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the Chabad emmisary who was murdered in the attack: "Every year, for the past 10 years, Rabbi Eli Schlanger chose me to address the community on the first night of Hanukkah here at Bondi beach. And every year I chose to stand there with him and with my daughters, first one, then two and eventually all three, with Rabbi Eli alongside me as I spoke."
"I didn’t know I was putting us all in harm’s way. I didn’t know that among us there is evil in its most pure and destructive form," he said.
"The killers, may their names be blotted out, made their choice too," he added. "They chose to give up their own lives and liberty just so that others would die. They chose to destroy worlds, to leave parents without a child, wives without husbands, a community without its rabbi. Why? To what end? For what gain? There is no why. It is of no consequence. What matters now is the choice we make. How we choose to live. How we together replace the light and decency and love that the murdered cumulatively brought to this world."
"But I will not hide who I am, an Australian and a Jew, for that would be a price too great. So I have chosen to return to stand again on that now-sacred ground, on the first night of Hanukah next year, together with my three daughters, and kindle the light, and praise the Almighty, proudly as an Australian and a Jew, because I know that’s exactly what my friend Eli would have wanted," Ryvchin said.