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‘We will not give in to fear’: vigils held across Australia to honor victims of Bondi terror attack
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‘We will not give in to fear’: vigils held across Australia to honor victims of Bondi terror attack

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Hanukkah events and vigils were held across Australia on Monday evening as thousands of mourners laid flowers and left messages in memory of the 15 people killed in Sunday’s terror attack on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
During an emotional ceremony on Bondi Beach, Rabbi Yossi Shuchat lit the candles of a 150cm high menorah and told those gathered: “Lightness will always exist, darkness cannot last where there is light.”

The sails of Sydney’s Opera House were lit in the light of the Hanukkah menorah on Monday evening to honor the victims.

The Pillars of Light Festival also continued at Federation Square in Melbourne, where visitors gathered to sing, pray and watch Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann light the menorah.
Rabbi Kaltmann addressed the crowd and thanked everyone “for coming and showing solidarity here.”
“We come together not out of fear, but out of strength,” he said.

“We will light our hearts and shine away this darkness by lighting the menorah.”

A menorah stands with three lit candles during a Chanukah – Pillars of Light public event in Federation Square, Melbourne. Source: MONKEY / Jay Kogler

In Sydney’s east, hundreds of people attended a prayer vigil at the Chabad Bondi synagogue, the place of worship for many of those involved in Sunday’s attack.

Harry Guth said he was there to show solidarity with those killed and injured in the attack.
“I have to admit it wasn’t a surprise,” Guth said.

“Of course I’m shocked, but something was going to happen when you get burnt cars, burnt shuls (synagogues), burnt restaurants, graffiti on walls.”

Members of the Jewish community also gathered on Monday evening to celebrate the second night of Hanukkah at St Kilda Beach and Caulfield Shule in Melbourne’s south-east.
Rabbi Effy Block of Chabad St Kilda said his congregation was reeling from “heartbreak, deep shock and deep pain”.
“Yes, our hearts are heavy. Yes, we grieve… but we will not be broken,” he said.

“We will not be silenced and we will not give in to fear.”

Sajid, a recognized owner of six firearms who arrived in Australia on a student visa in 1998, died at the scene after a brief shootout with police.
Australian-born Naveed is in a coma in hospital after also being shot and is expected to be charged.

Neither man was on ASIO’s radar immediately before the shooting, Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30 program after being briefed by the spy agency’s director-general.

Naveed Akram was investigated by ASIO for six months in 2019 over his connections to two people who both subsequently went to prison, but there was “no evidence” he had been radicalised. The fifteen people killed by the gunmen ranged in age from 10 to 87 years old.
There are 26 injured patients receiving care in Sydney hospitals, 12 of whom are seriously injured.
Constable Scott Dyson and another unnamed NSW police officer are among those injured and are both in a serious but stable condition.
Their families expressed their “sincere gratitude” to the first responders and hospital staff whose actions saved lives.

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