On Sunday, December 14, there was a shooting on Bondi Beach, Australia during a Hanukkah celebration. There were two shooters, a father and a son.
15 people died on Sunday and more than 20 people are still in hospitals. The people who died included a 10 year old and an 87 year old Holocaust survivor. It also included an assistant rabbi, Eli Schlanger, a loved husband and father of five.
One man who survived talked to the news reporter about Schlanger and said, “You can tell by the amount of people that are here how much he meant to the community. He was warm, happy, generous, one of a kind.”
A video was taken of a hero, Ahmed al Ahmed, tackling one of the shooters and then disarming him before turning the gun to the shooter, forcing him to retreat. He was shot multiple times and has had surgery and is recovering right now. Ahmed was meeting a friend for coffee when the attack started and he did not hesitate before running to intervene with one of the gunmen.
The gunmen were identified as a father and son, Sajid Akram (50) and Naveed Akram (24). Sajid died on scene after being shot and Naveed was in the hospital after also being shot by police. However, once he was discharged, Naveed was charged with 59 offences, including 15 charges of murder and the rest as counts of causing harm with intent to murder. The intent to murder came after injuring more than 20 people and placing an explosive near a building. There were also some explosive devices found in the Akrams’ car.
The police commissioner, Krissy Barrett said this violence was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State.”
Islamic State is a group of Muslims against the Jewish community.
This is said to be the worst shooting in Australia in 30 years. The Australian government promised to take whatever action is needed to get rid of antisemitism.
