Australia mourns victims of the Bondi Beach antisemitic attack as PM Albanese vows tougher laws to combat extremism and hate crimes
SYDNEY: Australia’s prime minister vowed to stamp out extremism Thursday as the nation mourned the youngest victim of the Bondi Beach shooting, a 10-year-old girl remembered as “our little ray of sunshine”.
Father-and-son gunmen are accused of firing into crowds at a beachside Jewish festival on Sunday evening, killing 15 in an attack authorities linked to “Islamic State ideology”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised a sweeping crackdown to banish the “evil of antisemitism from our society”.
“Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry. It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge,” he told reporters.
This included new powers to target extremist preachers and to refuse or cancel visas for those who spread hate and division.
Australia would develop a regime for listing organisations with leaders who engage in hate speech, he said.
“Serious vilification” based on race would become a federal offence.
As the prime minister spoke, mourners gathered for the funeral of 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim killed in the attack.
“Matilda is our little ray of sunshine,” said the rabbi leading the service, reading a message from her school.
“She is genuinely the most kind, caring and compassionate young girl, who brightened everyone’s day with her radiant smile and infectious laugh.”
Mourners clutched bouquets of lilies as they filed into Sydney’s Chevra Kadisha Memorial Hall, a Jewish funeral home responsible for customary burial rites.
Others held balloons emblazoned with pictures of bumblebees, a reference to the young girl’s nickname “Matilda Bee”.
Photos taken in the hours before the first bullets were fired showed Matilda stroking animals at a petting zoo and smiling after having her face painted.
‘Remember her name’
Matilda’s family who have asked media not to publish their last name left Ukraine to settle in Australia.
“I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here. It’s just a nightmare,” mother Valentyna told reporters ahead of the funeral.
Her father, Michael, said they chose Matilda’s name as a nod to Australia, where the beloved folk song “Waltzing Matilda” is sung as an unofficial national anthem.
“We came here from Ukraine, and Matilda was our firstborn here in Australia,” he said earlier this week.
“And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist.
“So just remember. Remember her name.”
Survivor Matan Atzmon, 40, said he was briefly with Matilda after she was shot.
“I don’t know Matilda but I was confused between her and my daughter,” he told AFP.
“I was with her when she got injured. I remember the look in her eyes.
“It’s not leaving me.”
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed are accused of opening fire on the Jewish Hanukkah celebration in an antisemitic attack.
Father Sajid, 50, was killed in a shootout with police but 24-year-old Naveed survived.
‘Hatred left untouched
The attack has revived allegations that Australia is dragging its feet in the fight against antisemitism.
“When words and hatred are left untouched, it leads to violence,” said survivor Arsen Ostrovsky, wearing a thick gauze pad to cover the wound where a bullet grazed his skull.
“We saw the manifestation of that on Sunday.”
Government envoy for antisemitism Jillian Segal said Australia stood at a crossroads.
“Not only for our community, but for fighting antisemitism around the world,” she told reporters.
Reportedly an unemployed bricklayer, Naveed was charged on Wednesday with 15 counts of murder, an act of terrorism and dozens of other serious crimes.
Authorities believe he and his father drew their inspiration from the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
Australian police are investigating whether the pair met with Islamist extremists during a visit to the Philippines weeks before the shooting.
Hotel staff said the duo barely left their rooms during a nearly month-long visit to the restive Mindanao region, which has a long history of Islamist insurgencies.
“They weren’t approachable like other foreigners,” night desk manager Angelica Ytang, 20, told AFP.
“Other foreigners usually chat with me, but they didn’t.”
Philippines authorities said there was no evidence that the country was being used for “terrorist training”.
Questions are mounting over whether Australia missed warning signs that could have thwarted the gunmen.
Naveed came to the attention of Australia’s intelligence agency in 2019, but he was not considered to be an imminent threat at the time.
Australia’s leaders have agreed to toughen laws that allowed his father Sajid to own six guns.
The Bondi Beach attack is the deadliest mass shooting since 35 people were killed in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.
That shooting sparked sweeping reform of Australia’s gun laws.
However, in recent years authorities have documented a steady rise in privately owned firearms. – AFP
