It was a celebration that should have been about faith and light. Instead, the first day of Hanukkah turned into absolute horror on Sunday as two gunmen intentionally targeted and killed members of the Jewish community at Bondi beach.
The death toll from the mass shooting in Sydney has risen to 16 people this morning, including one of the gunmen. Authorities report that 42 people – including four children – were taken to hospitals across Sydney.
The antisemitic attack has left Jewish people in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, and across Australia, feeling more unsafe than ever.
Speaking to ABC News, local resident and community leader Rabbi Mendel Kastel said “we can’t do it on our own”.
“It’s countrywide. Every individual needs to step up and say, ‘we want our country back’,” he said. “We want to have peace, tranquility…the beautiful Australia that we’ve grown up in.”
Wentworth MP Allegra Spender is correct when she says Sunday was one of the darkest days in Australian history.
But amid the shock and sorrow Australians feel today, communities are already rallying together in solidarity to show support for the victims of the attack and all Jewish people over the past day.
In actions small and large, Australians have displayed that the agenda of terrorists in inciting pain and fear can’t — and won’t — be tolerated.
Whether it’s the heroic actions of 43-year-old father of two Ahmed el Ahmed, who put himself in danger to wrestle a gun off one of the alleged shooters, or the many bystanders who rushed to support those who were wounded before emergency services arrived, there was plenty of goodwill on display on Sunday.
Bondi lifeguards, police officers and emergency workers ran toward danger, not away from it, doing what they could to protect lives amid utter violence.
There was the brave lifeguard who courageously entered the water as shots rang out and people scrambled from the beach, to save a swimmer who was in trouble in the water.
There were the local Bondi residents who opened the doors to their homes and businesses to shelter members of the public from danger.
When a call was put out for urgent blood donations to support the victims, lines of people turned up at blood donation centres to do so. Lines are running out the doors this morning.
Politicians from across the political spectrum have framed the response to this attack as a moment for Australians to support each other.
Genuine messages of unity and support have flooded social media.
Faith leaders and religious communities have reached out to one another, publicly calling for peace and solidarity with Jewish people.
It’s clear that Australians are already standing shoulder to shoulder in defiance of the hatred and violence.
Community solidarity cannot undo the violence that has occurred, nor can it ease the pain of the families and individuals who will live with this trauma forever. But it does make an impact.
It matters when a community shares grief and refuses to let violence and terrorism define who it is.
As executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia Sarah Schwartz told ABC News today, the wider community coming together is essential in reponse to the attack.
“The Jewish community is small,” Schwartz said. “We all know someone who was there or impacted, or know someone who was impacted. This sent shockwaves through the entire community, and I think we’re all feeling pretty heartbroken and grief-stricken at this moment, and taking this as a time to come together.”
Schwartz described it as a moment of grief for the entire nation.
“We do have choices in this moment, and our choice has to be to come together against racism, hatred, division, antisemitism,” she said.
“I have been inundated, and I know that the Jewish Council and so many members of the Jewish community have been absolutely inundated with messages of solidarity from across different communities.”
As police presence and security ramp up around synagogues and Jewish schools today, it is up to all of us to choose compassion and community over fear.
Our response to this tragedy must be to protect one another, speak out against hate and ensure Jewish people are not left to carry the pain from Sunday’s horror in Bondi alone.