The murderous attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, was a heinous act of Jew hatred. It should be condemned as resolutely as we condemn Israel’s ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people, as resolutely as we condemn all forms of bigotry and the violence it engenders.

The courage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, an Australian citizen born in Syria who charged the younger shooter from behind and disarmed him, saved lives. He deserves our immense respect.

EDITORIAL

The two perpetrators opened fire December 14 on the nearly 1,000 men, women, and children gathered at Bondi Beach to celebrate the first day of the Jewish holiday Hanukkah. Fifteen people were killed, including a Holocaust survivor, a 10-year-old child, and two rabbis. More than 40 were hospitalized.

Although the full story is not yet clear, there are indications that the two shooters — Sajid Akram, who was killed by the police, and his son Naveed, both of Indian origin — had a connection with the Islamic State. This is an extreme right-wing group that has terrorized millions of Muslims and others in the Mideast and beyond over the last decade.

The Bondi attack was met by immediate reactions of horror, solidarity, and sympathy globally.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cynically jumped on the opportunity to capitalize on this act of antisemitic terror to once again justify his government’s unrelenting oppression of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. He blamed the Australian government’s support for a Palestinian state for fanning the flames of “antisemitic fire.” Netanyahu made these demagogic comments as Israel continued to batter a Gaza already in ruins.

The Bondi Beach shooting came amid a surge in both antisemitic and anti-Islamic attacks and incidents in Australia since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault in Israel and the subsequent genocidal war by Israeli forces against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Repeated acts of vandalism and arson attacks on synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses, threats against individual Jews, and violent rampages through Jewish neighborhoods have taken place.

The recent World-Outlook article Bigotry, Jew Hatred Take Center Stage in GOP Mainstream noted that Jew hatred, “along with anti-Black racism and other forms of bigotry, rear their ugly head as defining features of an emboldened ultra-right amid conditions that generate economic desperation and social frustration among millions of working and middle-class people.”

Australia is no exception. The crisis of capitalism is reflected there in rising costs of consumer goods, housing, and other necessities alongside a decline in real wages that fuel widespread discontent. And, just as in the United States and Europe, rightist currents are trying to scapegoat Jews, as well as immigrants, Blacks, and others for these social ills.

Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation, an Australian right-wing party, for example, is now railing against immigration, particularly Muslim immigration, in the wake of the Bondi murders.

In a statement following the attack, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) said: “Our values are clear. We reject antisemitism and all forms of racism. We reject violence, hate, and attempts to divide our communities. We stand for dignity, safety, and care for all people, and for a world where everyone can live free from fear, without exception…

“Our movement represents the best of our community, from First Nations leaders, members of the Jewish community, side by side with Palestinian siblings, and the wider Arab community, among many other allies from all walks of life. Together we have insisted on a world that is free from racism and hate. And we will continue to insist that antisemitism… has no place in our society. We must all harness the courage of Ahmed al Ahmed, the hero who disarmed the gunman. His bravery calls us to stand together against hatred.”

World-Outlook echoes this call. We condemn the attack at Bondi Beach as ardently as we have condemned the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, the genocidal war unleashed against Gaza by the Israeli state, and all other acts of bigotry and racist violence.

POSTSCRIPT

We publish below for the information of our readers statements by a number of groups in Australia other than APAN responding to the Bondi Beach shooting.

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STATEMENT BY FREE PALESTINE MELBOURNE

Free Palestine Melbourne is appalled and deeply saddened by the massacre at Bondi beach. We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the victims. We understand the pain felt by all members of the Jewish community.

We condemn the Bondi killers, whatever their claimed motives may have been. We reject all forms of racism. FPM’s members include activists from Muslim, Christian and Jewish backgrounds and others. Our movement is one of peace and solidarity.

This tragedy should be a moment where we come together. The bravery of Ahmed el Ahmed, who risked his life to save Jewish lives, should be our inspiration.

We reject responses that are emerging that are being used against the Palestinian community, who have known deep horror and loss over the past two years. Don’t let this unspeakable crime in Bondi divide us.

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STATEMENT BY PALESTINE ACTION GROUP SYDNEY

We are shocked and absolutely horrified by the terrorist attack at Bondi beach, which targeted the Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah. Our thoughts are with all those who have suffered due to this appalling attack, with the families of all the dead, and especially with the Jewish community. No one, anywhere in Sydney or anywhere in the world, should have to live in fear of terrorism or racist hate.

We salute the heroic actions of Ahmed al Ahmed, who bravely tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen, saving countless lives, and being shot twice in the process.

We reiterate our complete condemnation of antisemitism and all other forms of racism. For years, we have stood and marched in our hundreds of thousands, side by side with members of the Jewish community, to fight for a world free of racist violence and oppression, from Sydney to Gaza. Antisemitism has never had any place in our movement, nor in the world we want to live in.

In this context, we are utterly shocked and appalled to see the comments by Antisemitism Envoy Jillian Segal [Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism — W-O], seeking to exploit this tragedy to try to blame it on the March for Humanity [the August 3, 2025, protest in Sydney against Israel’s war in Gaza — W-O], which saw 300,000 people, including thousands of Jewish people, march peacefully together to oppose genocide and racism.

We must not let Israeli politicians, Segal, or the far right, turn this tragedy into further racist hate.

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JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE MAGAN-DJIN’S [Brisbane] STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY IN RESPONSE TO THE TERROR ATTACK IN BONDI

We have met the news of Sunday’s attack in Sydney with shock, sadness, and anger.

We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and express our solidarity with the Jewish community across Australia in the face of unjustified violence.

We extend our thoughts, love, and deep empathy to those affected by this cowardly act of violence. We wish the injured a full and swift recovery from both physical and psychological trauma, and we honour those who lost their lives. To their families and loved ones, we send our condolences and strength in the face of these horrific losses.

Since its inception in 2009, Justice for Palestine Magan-djin has been grounded in the values of freedom, justice, empathy, and courage. Yesterday’s terror attack represents the complete opposite of these values.

Many from the Jewish community have participated in our protests for justice in Palestine, and our movement has always been clear and unwavering in its opposition to antisemitism.

We also condemn attempts by the far right to exploit this attack to advance an agenda of hate, division, and marginalisation. Ideologies rooted in exclusion and dehumanisation are deeply dangerous, and history has shown us the devastating consequences they produce.

We reaffirm our commitment to opposing violence and injustice in all its forms.

An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. We stand with you.

In Solidarity

Justice for Palestine Magan-djin

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