In the 14 December shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, 16 Israeli and Australian Jews and one shooter were shot dead while 29 others were wounded, some critically. Condemnation of terrorist acts poured into Sydney from all over the world. Some Islamic countries like Lebanon, Qatar, and Iran also stated their opposition to violence and criminal acts, but also brought up the matter of war and humanitarian crimes against Palestinians without mentioning the October 7th carnage perpetrated in Southern Israel. This evokes the tactic of takiya(deception), so often and mercilessly used.
Targeting a public feast
The Bondi Beach terror attack targeted a public Hanukkah celebration. Hanukkah represents the victory of light over darkness.
Jews had assembled to celebrate the Festival of Lights that lasts for eight days in the Jewish calendar, typically falling in November or December, close to the Christmas holidays. It marks the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BC. The temple was re-consecrated during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid monarch who had banned Jewish practices and desecrated the Temple.
President Trump says that the shooting in Sydney is part of a rising wave of anti-Semitism. Who foments anti-Semitic hatred and violence? Trump has reasons not to call the responsible parties by name. The father-and-son duo, Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram — connected to India and the Pakistani Muslim community — committed the crime during the religious gathering at Bondi Beach. An improvised explosive device was reportedly found in a car associated with the attack, showing that the death toll and destruction might have been bigger. The shooting was probably the largest attack on that festival in recent memory. It is being investigated as a terrorist incident with anti-semitic, or more accurately anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish, motivations. Arabs Muslims are Semites and Islamic terrorists cannot be suspected of being hostile to either Arabs or to Islam, which is a semitic religion as well).
Identifying the culprits
So far, no Muslim terrorist of Indian origin has been arrested or convicted for running a hate campaign against Jews. Pakistan-based terrorist groups however have occcasionally targeted Israelis and Jews. There were attacks by Kashmir-linked Pakistani terrorists against Israeli tourists. In one case, some years ago, they kidnapped and beheaded a Danish traveler named Hans Christine in South Kashmir because his passport showed him to be of Jewish faith.
Making light of forewarning
Israeli sources have disclosed information on the Bondi Beach tragic event. “Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar says he told Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, — during a call made “at her initiative” — that Australia needs to clamp down on speech which in Israel’s view is anti-Semitic. He said he told her there had been “a surge in anti-Semitism in Australia” since October 7, 2023, “Including violent incitement against Israel and Jews in the digital and public spheres, including comparisons of Israel to the Nazis and to the Holocaust, as well as the burning of synagogues and Israeli flags, and marches featuring explicit expressions of hatred,” he wrote on X.
He listed phrases used to condemn Israel, including “Globalize the Intifada,” “From the River to the Sea Palestine Will be Free,” and “Death to the IDF”, and claimed that such statements were “not legitimate, are not part of the freedom of speech, and inevitably lead to what we witnessed today.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other Israeli politicians however have also been documented using the phrase “From the River to the Sea”.
“I also said that security for the Jewish community in Australia will be achieved only through a real change in the public atmosphere. The Australian government must take strong action against the use of these anti-Semitic calls,” he wrote.
Nonchalant attitude?
This shows that an anti-Israeli campaign was carried out on a larger and more coordinated scale in Australia than in many other countries. and the Israeli diplomatic mission in Canberra has been very sensitive to this development. Tel Aviv had brought the disturbing situation to the notice of the Australian government. What preventive steps the latter took is not known but the tone and tenor of the Israeli foreign minister’s statement indicates that the seriousness of the case was somewhat underestimated. Yet, censoring and punishing the expression of certain opinions or beliefs or banning peaceful public protests is hard to justify in a self-proclaimed liberal democracy that guarantees freedom of speech, and the repression of any group may onlu worsen the problem by increasing discontent and resentment. However, the apparent negligence of the Australian government regarding warnings about possible violence is not excusable
Unconfirmed reports suggest the hand of ISIS behind the rising social tensions. Australia, like some European countries, seems to easily discount terrorist threats . But the fact that a Muslim fruit vendor, showing great bravery, overpowered one of the assailants, is a testimony to the fact that Muslims should not be branded as potential terrorists even if some of them are led to carry out heinous crimes in response to extremist fatwas.
The conclusion to be drawn from this situation is that the international community (if it really exists as such) must be fully aware of the existential threat posed by religious fanatics. It is the duty of the relevant organisations and institutions to identify the entities that promote and abet violence and hatred, train killers, and enable them to massacre innocent people all over the world. Governments, societies, organisations, and leaders notorious for the outright support they give to the terrorist eco-system should lose their credentials and acceptability in the global system if the latter is to be rescued from the fast spreading anarchy and lawlessness.
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