Australia falls silent, lights candles for Bondi Beach shooting victims
The Australian government has announced a suite of national measures on gun ownership and hate speech, promising stricter laws and harsher penalties.
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SYDNEY: Australians fell silent in flickering candlelight Sunday to honour the Bondi Beach shooting victims, marking one week since gunmen fired into crowds at a Jewish festival.
A father and son are accused of targeting the family-thronged Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach, striking on a sunny day at a tourism hotspot that is emblematic of Australians' ocean-loving lifestyle.
From raucous city pubs to sleepy country towns, Australia observed a minute's silence at 6.47 pm (3.47pm, Singapore time) - exactly a week since the first reports of gunfire.
Countless homes lined their windowsills with candles in a nationwide gesture of "light over darkness", a key theme of the Hanukkah festival.
"Last week took our innocence and, like the grass here at Bondi was stained with blood, so too has our nation been stained," said David Ossip, president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.
Summer winds buffeted flags lowered to half-mast across the country, including over the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge.
A candle was lit before thousands of people held their silent vigil at Bondi Beach.
Anger spilled over at the government's perceived failure to act swiftly and forcefully enough to halt a rise in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of hostilities in Gaza.
Television images showed police surrounding one man who shouted: "Blood on your hands," as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived at the ocean-side event.
Some in the crowd booed when Albanese's presence was announced at the service.
The prime minister, wearing a traditional Jewish kippah, did not speak at the commemoration.
"UNSPEAKABLE" LOSS
As dusk fell over the Bondi foreshore, event organisers estimated some 20,000 had attended.
"Bondi is with us, Sydney is with us, Australia is with us and the world is with us," rabbi Yehoram Ulman said, before reading out the names of those killed.
They include 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim, and Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman, 87, who was killed shielding his wife from bullets.
Paramedics, police and parents of the wounded were invited on stage to light the arms of a Jewish candelabrum known as a menorah.
A generation of Australians has grown up with the notion that mass shootings simply do not happen in the country.
That illusion was shattered when alleged gunmen Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed trained their long-barrelled weapons on the nation's most famous beach.
The attack was so unthinkable that many shrugged off the first cracks of gunfire as harmless festive fireworks.
"The loss is unspeakable," said rabbi Levi Wolff.
"GUNS OFF OUR STREETS"
The alleged attackers drew inspiration from the extremist Islamic State group, authorities said as they branded the shooting an antisemitic act of terrorism.
Already, it threatens to fray the bonds of social cohesion in a multicultural nation.
Pig heads have been dumped on Muslim graves, and right-wing groups have organised a fresh wave of anti-immigration rallies.
Jewish community leaders have accused the government of ignoring a rising tide of antisemitism.
Ossip, from the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, said the shooting would have been a tragedy if unexpected.
"How much more tragic is it that the loss of life occurred despite all the warning signs being there?"
Grieving families are demanding to know how the gunmen slipped through the cracks.
Unemployed bricklayer Naveed was flagged by Australia's intelligence agency in 2019 but he fell off the radar as authorities deemed he posed no imminent threat.
The government has announced a suite of national measures on gun ownership and hate speech, promising stricter laws and harsher penalties.
Albanese has announced a sweeping buyback scheme to "get guns off our streets".
It is the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a mass shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.
Albanese has ordered a review of police and intelligence services.
BRAVERY
Alongside the killings, stories of immense bravery have emerged.
Beachgoers grappled with the heavily-armed assailants, while others shielded total strangers or dashed through gunfire to treat the wounded.
Shopkeeper Ahmed al Ahmed, a father of two who moved to Australia from Syria almost a decade ago, has been lauded after ducking between cars and then wresting a gun from one of the attackers.
Sajid Akram, an Indian national who entered Australia on a visa in 1998, was shot and killed by police.
Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in hospital under police guard and faces multiple charges, including terrorism and 15 murders.
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