Thousands gather at Bondi Beach to mourn attack victims

Melbourne, Dec. 22: Thousands of mourners gathered under tight police security at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to mark a week since two gunmen targeting a Jewish festival killed 15 people. Since then, Australian governments have been galvanized into action on countering antisemitism and tightening already strict national gun controls.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his predecessors John Howard and Scott Morrison, and Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia's head of state King Charles III, were among the dignitaries at the commemoration that drew more than 10,000 people.

"This has to be the nadir of antisemitism in our country," New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip told the crowd. "This has to be the moment when light starts to eclipse the darkness."

The crowd booed Albanese when Ossip acknowledged his presence. Opposition leader Sussan Ley, who had said that a conservative government led by her would reverse a decision made by Albanese's center-left Labor Party government this year to recognize a Palestinian state, was cheered.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at Albanese over the attack on the Hannukah celebration, saying "your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire." Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for a Palestinian state, and criticism of Israel's military offensive in Gaza following Hamas' 2023 attack, to growing incidents of antisemitism worldwide.

Images of the victims, aged 10 to 87, were projected at the commemoration. "Waltzing Matilda" was sung in honor of the youngest victim, whose Ukrainian parents gave their Australian-born daughter what they described as the most Australian name they knew.(AP)