MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Australians will light candles at 6:47 p.m. on Sunday (7:47 GMT) to collectively commemorate the moment the first shots rang out a week earlier at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in an attack on a Jewish festival that left 15 dead.
The federal and New South Wales state governments have declared Sunday a national Day of Reflection, a week after Australia’s worst mass shooting since 35 died in Tasmania state in 1996.
Indigenous leaders held a traditional smoking ceremony on Sunday morning at the waterfront Bondi Pavilion, where an impromptu memorial has grown over the past week as flowers and heartfelt messages have accumulated. The memorial is to be cleared on Monday.
Rabbi Levi Wolff expected thousands would gather at Bondi later Sunday to honor the victims and show solidarity for the Jewish community.
“Australians appreciate that this is an attack that wasn’t just against the Jewish people – we’re an easy target – but this is an attack on the Australian values and they will come here and they will stand together with us shoulder-to-shoulder as they have over the last week to tell the people in this country that there is no tolerance for hate. Violence has no place in our beautiful country,” Wolff told Nine Network television at the memorial.
Last Sunday, two gunmen opened fire on the Hanukkah celebration on the first day of an eight-day Jewish holiday.
Health department authorities said 13 of those wounded at Bondi remained in Sydney hospitals on Sunday.
They include alleged gunman Naveed Akram, 24, who was shot by police. He has been charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to those wounded.
His father Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.
Flags are flying at half-staff on Sunday on government buildings, which will be lit in yellow on Sunday night in a show of solidarity with the Jewish community.
Television and radio networks have also been asked to pause for a minute’s silence at 6:47 p.m.
Rabbi Eli Feldman said the wider Australian community was invited to join Jews at Bondi to observe the last full day of Hanukkah, which ends at sundown on Monday.
“The Jewish community, together with all of our Australian friends, are all invited to come and light the eighth candle here and show that light will always overcome darkness,” Feldman told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said victims’ families felt “tragically, unforgivably let down” by government failures to combat a growth in antisemitism in Australia since the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023.
“I’ve spent time with the families of the victims. They’re just in a bewildered state. They’re still in shock. They don’t know what to do with themselves, let alone contemplate moving forward and healing,” Ryvchin said.
“There’s a lot of anger in the community now as well. I think we’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed. And the community wants answers and we want change,” he added.
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