The shooting deaths of 16 people and wounding of many more aged 10 to 87 at the Chanukah by the Sea Celebration at Sydney, Australia’s Bondi Beach Sunday has shocked the world and touched us all.
Police confirmed alleged shooters are father and son Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, according to The Guardian newspaper. The father was killed by police and the son was in critical condition at a local hospital, the report said.
In a separate report The Guardian showed a video of a bystander tackling and wrestling a gun from one of the two alleged gunmen in which at least 16 people were killed. The bystander was said to be a 43-year-old fruit shop owner named Ahmed al-Ahmed.
New Hampshire State Rep. Paul Berch, D-Westmoreland, shared this Facebook post with InDepthNH.org Sunday: “My window menorah is up.
“This year, my public display of the menorah is an act of solidarity with members of my faith community who feel unsafe or unable to put up a visible sign of their Jewish identity.
“Whether in New Hampshire or New York City, Washington, DC, Boulder, Amsterdam, Sydney, or London—or on college campuses such as Dartmouth, Harvard, Columbia, Pomona College, and across the California State University system—there are Jews who no longer feel safe openly displaying their faith.
“For them, I place this menorah in my window. May they draw strength from its light.
“Whatever your faith community, placing a menorah—or any lights—in your window is a meaningful act. Feel free to share your lights, whether indoors or facing outward,” Berch wrote.
Berch posted another statement as news of the horrific shootings in Australia raced around the world, along with the video of the local grocer who threw himself on one of the shooters and disarmed him, ending up getting shot himself. He was in surgery as last reported in news reports around the world Sunday night.
Berch wrote: “Our hearts are shattered for our Jewish sisters and brothers in Australia who were attacked while lighting the first candle of Hanukkah, and for the entire Australian Jewish community now mourning the unimaginable. What should have been a moment of light, faith, and resilience was turned into terror and bloodshed.
“Jews around the world awoke in grief and horror to news of yet another massacre—people murdered for no reason other than that they were Jewish. This time it happened in Australia, a country many believed was far from such hatred, despite repeated warnings from Jewish communities worldwide and from the Government of Israel about the rising tide of virulent antisemitism. Families had gathered in peace to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, a holiday that commemorates survival against persecution.
“At least twelve innocent people were murdered and roughly sixty more wounded in a planned, coordinated attack involving multiple gunmen. Unexploded improvised explosive devices were found at the scene, underscoring the attackers’ intent to inflict even greater carnage. In the midst of this horror, one man—a Muslim Australian—acted with extraordinary courage, rushing a gunman at great personal risk, wrestling away his weapon, and saving countless lives. Shot twice, he now fights for his own recovery, a living testament to humanity in the face of hate.
“Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem. It is a moral collapse—a failure of society to protect its most basic values. When Jews are targeted, democracy itself is under attack. We must stand together, without hesitation or equivocation, for pluralism, for human dignity, and for the right of every person—especially Jews—to live without fear in their homes, their synagogues, and their communities.
“Silence is not an option,” Berch wrote.