On the southeast coast of Australia, at the Bondi Beach near Sydney, two gunmen targeted a “Chanukah by the Sea” event today, with at least 42 hospitalized and a death count of 16. One of the gunmen was disarmed by a brave bystander, Ahmed al-Ahmed, described as a fruit shop owner, and a member of the local Muslim community. More will be discovered about the identity of the two attackers, but it would not be surprising if rage-driven vengeance by Muslims against Jews is involved.
What is presently known is one gunman was killed and the other, identified as his son, Naveed Akram, is in critical condition. Akram is a Pakistani who worked in Australia as a bricklayer, until two months ago when the company became insolvent and he became jobless.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Australian government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for recognizing a Palestinian state three months ago, and accused it of encouraging “the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets. Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. You must replace weakness with action.” Assumedly, Netanyahu’s role in killing over 40,000 innocent women and children over the last two years, and claiming he did so to defend Judaism, is assumed to have helped lessen antisemitism.