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These updates will be on pause until January 8. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will share additional information as needed.
Australia Terror Attack
- In the worst-ever attack on Australia’s Jewish community, terrorists opened fire indiscriminately on Jews celebrating Chanukah on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday evening·
- At least 15 people were killed, including a 10-year-old child, rabbis, and a Holocaust survivor, as well as at least one non-Jewish man. More than three dozen were wounded in one of Australia’s deadliest shootings in decades.
- Jewish Federations of North America joined people across the world in condemning the attack and mourning the victims. See our blog post here.
- The attack follows more than two years of rising antisemitism in Australia, which many in the Jewish community say the country’s government did little to stem.
- The Israeli government, along with local Jewish leaders, have been warning the government that an attack was almost inevitable. When the Australian government formally recognized a Palestinian state in September, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that such a move awarded a prize for terror and that it encouraged antisemitic attacks.
- Two gunmen, a father and son, opened fire on the crowd; the 50-year-old father was shot dead at the scene, and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, was wounded and taken to hospital under guard.
- Naveed Akram has now been charged with 59 offenses, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act.
- Investigators found terror-related material and improvised explosive devices both at the scene and in the suspects’ vehicle, underscoring the planned nature of the assault.
- Amid the tragedy, stories of bravery have emerged, including that of Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim bystander who wrestled with one of the attackers, seizing his weapon and likely saving many lives. Al-Ahmed has received significant praise for his brave actions by the Jewish community, and leaders across the world.
- The attack has prompted national grief, calls for tougher gun and hate-speech laws, and widespread vigils and tributes to the victim. Josh Frydberg, Australia's Jewish former treasurer (the second most important position to the prime minister), who is from the conservative party (now in opposition), slammed the current government.
- Some State governments in Australia, as well as the national government in the UK, have outlawed the phrase “globalize the Intifada,” as a result of the terror attack.
- Watch the promise of one Jewish Australian, “We won’t turn our menorahs off.”
- The Jewish Agency for Israel, together with Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, has deployed an expert delegation from Israel to support the Australian Jewish community and assist in immediate recovery and resilience-building efforts.
- The delegation was dispatched as part of JReady, the joint emergency preparedness and community resilience platform of the Agency and the Ministry. The team arrived in Sydney on Tuesday, and began field operations immediately. The delegation includes leading Israeli experts in trauma response, mass-casualty events, and community recovery. Members include Prof. Moshe Farchi, a world-renowned trauma expert and developer of the Six Cs Model for Psychological First Aid; Ayelet Shmuel, Director of the International Resilience Center in Sderot; and specialists from the International Center for Functional Resilience, the Israel Trauma Coalition, and One Family. The Jewish Federations of North America and other major Jewish organizations are supporting the Jewish Agency’s efforts to assist the Australian Jewish community.
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