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UK chief rabbi describes family's terror during Sydney shooting
Sir Ephraim Mirvis revealed his cousin and cousin's wife hid under a doughnut stand for 15 minutes as gunmen opened fire at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people including a 10-year-old girl.
Attack targeted Jewish visibility during Hanukkah
Rabbi Mirvis said the assault on Sunday was an attack on Jews for "gathering together, visibly and peacefully." He called the right to public Jewish gatherings a "test of the moral health of any society," warning that a society where minorities must calculate safety risks to assemble is "failing all its citizens."
Antisemitism must be confronted, Mirvis urges
The chief rabbi, who represents the UK's largest Jewish community, linked the attack to "toxic antisemitism" and condemned rhetoric like "globalise the intifada," which he said incites violence. "Why is it still allowed?" he asked, equating the phrase to the Bondi Beach massacre.
Mirvis will travel to Sydney to support the community and called for unity against "normalised rhetoric that demonises Jews and the only Jewish State."
UK leaders pledge security boost after attack
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced a "more visible security presence" at Hanukkah events, acknowledging that British Jews feel "even more insecure" after the attack. He described the Bondi shooting as part of a pattern targeting Jewish holy days, including a September attack on a Manchester synagogue that killed two people.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones visited Manchester on Monday to celebrate Hanukkah with survivors of the Yom Kippur attack, expressing solidarity with the Jewish community. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the Bondi attack "horrifying" and admitted the UK had "not done enough" to combat rising antisemitism.
Victims and suspects identified
The Bondi Beach attack began at 18:47 local time (07:47 GMT) as around 1,000 people attended a public Hanukkah event. Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87, including two rabbis and a Holocaust survivor. Verified videos showed panicked crowds fleeing gunfire.
The gunmen were identified as 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who died at the scene, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, who remains in critical condition in hospital.
Hanukkah's message of defiance
Rabbi Mirvis drew parallels between the Bondi attack and the historical persecution commemorated during Hanukkah, when Jews defied Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes' ban on their faith. "The Jewish community is nervous. The Jewish community is strong," he said. "We'll be out there during the eight days of Hanukkah."
"Jews have lived with security concerns for as long as I can remember, but the fact that today every public Jewish gathering must be weighed for risk is a sign of something deeply wrong."
Sir Ephraim Mirvis, UK Chief Rabbi
UK sees record antisemitic hate crimes
The Community Security Trust (CST), which protects UK Jewish communities, reported record levels of anti-Jewish hate crime since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. CST's Dave Rich warned of protests with "calls for intifada," linking violent rhetoric to violent actions. "Jewish people see a connection," he said.
