'Bondi Beach attack was not indiscriminate – it was targeting Jews for being Jews’

Read time: 5 mins

In brief…

• At least 15 people have been killed by two gunmen during Hanukkah celebrations in Sydney. News reports have described the gunmen as firing “indiscriminately” but The News Agents say they were fired on with discrimination for being Jewish.
• Some have blamed pro-Palestine marches for a rapid growth in antisemitism, with protesters saying the events are peaceful, while Jewish people feel threatened. “Both things can be true,” says Jon Sopel.
• Australia has pledged to tighten its gun laws, but Emily Maitlis says that is not the problem here, antisemitism is, but that is a more complicated conversation to have.

What’s the story?

"Hannukah is a festival that celebrates survival,” says Emily Maitlis.

"So the idea that happened at a time of light and love and laughter, will not be lost on people around the world.”

On Sunday 14 December, hundreds of Jewish people gathered on Sydney’s Bondi Beach to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. As families gathered, two men opened fire, killing at least 16 – including a shooter – and injuring 42.

The victims included a ten-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and a grandfather who died trying to shield a friend from bullets.

A Sydney resident, shopkeeper Ahmed al Ahmed, has been hailed a hero for his actions in disarming one of two gunmen, and is receiving hospital treatment for bullet wounds.

The antisemitic attack was carried out by a father and son, armed with rifles. One gunman was shot and killed at the scene, while another is in police custody, and under guard in hospital.

Jon Sopel, who has family living in Sydney (who were not caught up in the attack), describes it as a "moment of horror" for those celebrating on Bondi Beach.

"There is a growing feeling that antisemitism since October the seventh has been getting worse," he says.

"An awful lot of people from Europe moved to Australia because they thought it was somehow thousands of miles away from all of this.

"Now the problems of the world seem to have landed on Sydney's door. There's a growing realisation that the Intifada has reached Bondi Beach."

‘Jews were targeted for being Jews’

BBC news reports have described the men as firing "indiscriminately" but Jon says the targets of the attack mean this simply is not the case.

“They were aiming at the people who were celebrating Hanukkah in a very discreet area of Bondi,” says Jon.

“It was targeting Jews for being Jews.

“That's why the Jewish community feels that something has changed in the sort of antisemitism that is being felt now.”

Emily says the gunmen had no idea who the Jews on Bondi Beach were, whether religious or secular, supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu or not.

Have pro-Palestine marches influenced the rise in Antisemitism?

Since the attack of October 7, and the subsequent devastation in Gaza, pro-Palestine marches have taken place across the globe, including London and Sydney.

For some, they have been a demonstration in support of the innocent people in Palestine, while for others they have been a display of anti-Jewish hatred on the streets of their own cities.

In news commentary surrounding the Bondi Beach attack, some blame has been placed on these marches for directly leading to the massacre.

"I was always a supporter of the right to protest, but was it just too much that every week there would be a whole section of the population who would feel they couldn't go into central London now, because pro-Palestine protesters would be shouting 'from the river to the sea or 'globalise the Intifada'," says Jon.

Protesters claim that these slogans do not call for violence but many Jewish people feel threatened by these words.

Emily says there is a question over where violence begins - and whether that starting point is the phrases heard at pro-Palestine marches.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has stated that those chants are directly calling for violence against Jewish people, leading extremists to believe there is "widespread support for their actions".

"Both things can be true, that if you are a pro-Palestinian protester, you are saying this is an expression of my free speech to be able to rail against what the Israeli government is doing," says Jon.

"And if you are Jewish, it is intimidating, because you feel that it's being targeted at you.

"If the question is, has antisemitism grown, the only way of measuring that is what people feel in their hearts as Jews."

Jewish people, he adds, are increasingly discussing whether the only place they will feel truly safe is in Israel itself.

Statistics show that since October 7 antisemitism on social media has risen dramatically with people unrelated to the war between Israel and Palestine targeted.

What to tackle – antisemitism or Australian gun laws?

Australian gun laws are far stricter than those in the US, where a university shooting took place on the same day.

The Australian government has pledged to tighten their laws even further, but this, Emily says, is avoiding the more difficult issues.

"Don't divert this into a question about gun laws – both things can be true," she says.

"Tighten the gun laws and crack down on antisemitism."

She believes it is much easier for politicians to discuss gun laws, than it is growing hatred for Jews in society.

"The problem is probably not too many guns," Emily adds.

"The problem is that antisemitism has been allowed to fester, but that is a really complicated subject to deal with.

"The Australian government has been very critical of the Israeli government and of Netanyahu, and you suddenly get this, and they don't quite know how to react, or what to do in the name of community cohesion."

Ahmed al Ahmed, the 'hero of the hour'

The Bondi Beach attack will be used by some to demonise immigrants and Muslims, but that is complicated by al Ahmed's role in this story.

Jon describes the shop owner as the "hero of the hour" for disarming one of the gunmen, and taking two bullets himself in the process.

"There are undoubtedly problems about Islamic extremism, about the terror attacks, being waged and having sleeper cells in Western societies," he says.

"But do not use this as a sledgehammer to attack the idea that every immigrant is an extremist, every Muslim is an extremist.

"It isn't true, and the facts don't adhere to that at all."

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