Jewish leaders have called for a federal royal commission into the Bondi terror attack, as some members of the crowd booed Anthony Albanese on arrival at the commemoration marking one week since 15 people were killed on the first day of Hanukah.
The president of the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies, David Ossip, said it “cannot be disputed” that a federal royal commission was needed, to loud cheers and applause from the crowd of up to 15,000 people gathered at Bondi, where a minute’s silence was held at 6.47pm, the time the attack began.
Ossip’s plea was echoed by the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, who thanked Ossip “for the courage to say it”.
To date the prime minister has backed a NSW royal commission proposed by the state premier, Chris Minns, but has resisted calls for a national one.
Ossip lavishly praised Minns in his introductions, as well as the NSW opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, again to huge cheers. When he welcomed Albanese, who was seated at the front, some members of the crowd booed.
Albanese was also met with boos – it appeared by the same members of the crowd – when he arrived at the event. Just minutes after his arrival, the former prime minister John Howard took the same path to get to his seat. His arrival was met with cheers.
In his speech Ossip acknowledged the “unbelievable bravery” of Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who was wounded after disarming one of the alleged Bondi gunmen during Sunday’s massacre.
He said Australian Jews had “landed up in a dark place”, but “light can eliminate even the bleakest of places”.
“Until two years ago, Australia was always the lucky country for Jews. But, sadly, no more. We have lost our innocence. Last week took our innocence. And, like the grass here at Bondi was stained with blood, so, too, has our nation been stained.
But, he said: “A single act of courage, a single flame of hope, can give us direction and point the path forward … And that’s what we have seen this week. Despite the incalculable tragedy which has befallen us, we have seen incredible manifestations of light.”
Ossip called Sloane a hero, saying: “I want everyone to know that last week Kellie made the choice, in the midst of the attack, to go down to Bondi beach, to go to where the incident was taking place and she provided assistance to those who were injured and gave shelter to those who needed it.”
In her speech Sloane detailed her experience trying to help the injured at the Hanukah event a week ago.
Ossip ended on a note of defiance.
“I should just say that if you have not realised it yet – the terrorist picked the wrong community to mess with because we, the Jewish people, are unbreakable. Resilience is in our veins!”
The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, said he had been at the Hanukah celebration at Bondi every year for the past 10 years, chosen by Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who died in the attack.
“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,” Ryvchin said.
“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.”
Ryvchin said he would return next year despite the “permanent loss of our way of life as Jews in this country [and] of the certain end of our carefree days joining with our friends and family to kindle the lights at this place and celebrate life”.
“I am willing to accept that we will now live with uncertainty, even fear. That is a price I will pay.
“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.”
Aghion said terrorists would not decide the future.
“We Australians make that decision. We Australians will not be dictated to by anyone, and especially not those who wield violence and fear in the name of hate.
“Our answer to the terrorists, to their knowing or unwitting accomplices and sympathisers is this. We will not be silenced. We will not hide. We will not live in fear.”
Minns also spoke, saying the Jewish community had “reclaimed Bondi beach for us”.
“This crime was an attempt to marginalise and scatter, to intimidate and cause fear, but you have stood up to this intimidation for thousands of years.”
He apologised for his government’s failure to protect its citizens.
“With humility I acknowledge the government’s highest duty is to protect the citizens and we did not do that one week ago. That reality weighs on me heavily. We must accept that responsibility and use that to do everything and anything we possibly can to stop it from happening again.”
He said the “sad truth” was that the crime had “tragically highlighted a deep vein of anti-Semitic hate in our community”.
“To excuse it as an aberration or a tragic single event is wrong. It will not do justice to the killed and wounded, and will not allow us to take steps to stop it from happening again.”
Albanese, who was joined by his deputy, Richard Marles, and the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, did not speak at the event.
Other speakers included the governor general, Sam Mostyn, and Chaya Dadon, a teenage survivor of the attack.
Albanese had requested all Australians to hold a minute’s silence and light a candle at 6.47pm as an act of quiet remembrance.
There was a heavy police presence at the vigil, including snipers on the roof of surrounding buildings and officers carrying rifles.
The NSW Police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said the strong police showing did not mean there was an increased security alert but was about “helping people feel safe as they come together to grieve”.
On Monday, the floral memorial to the victims at Bondi Pavilion is due to be removed. The Sydney Jewish Museum and Australian Jewish Historical Society will help collect and preserve the materials.
Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of Bondi Chabad, one of the last speakers at the vigil, told the crowd: “Returning to normal is not enough.
“Sydney can and must become a beacon of goodness. A city where people look out for one another, where kindness is louder than hate, where decency is stronger than fear, and we can make it happen,” he said, stopping for a moment as the crowd applauded.
“But only if we take the feelings we have right now and turn them into action, into continuous action.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
