‘Light will win’: message of hope after Bondi tragedy
Chaya Dadon found cover under a bench at Bondi Beach as bullets rained down on him, but he risked his life to help other children to safety.
The confident 14-year-old took to the stage in Bondi on Sunday – just meters from where 15 people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration a week ago – to tell the crowd at a memorial event that he had been divinely guided.
“All of his (Jewish) learning led to this moment. At that moment I said ‘this is it – it’s that light,'” he said, as those gathered saluted his bravery.
“As a nation we are getting stronger, we are growing, and sometimes it hurts to grow, but life will go on and why not make the most of it?”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his predecessors John Howard and Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane and Governor-General Sam Mostyn were among the dignitaries at Sunday’s commemoration, which was part of a national day of reflection.
Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was killed in the clash, pleaded with Australians to show kindness in the wake of the tragedy.
“I stand here tonight to say loud and clear that the darkness will not have the final say. The light will win,” he said.
“Sydney can and should be a beacon of kindness – a city where people look out for each other, where kindness is higher than hate, where decency is stronger than fear.”
Gold-medal Olympic kayaker Jessica Fox also addressed the crowd, saying the beach had become a site of “unimaginable loss” as she introduced first responders who lit the menorah’s eight candles.
As his father lit one of the candles, he paid tribute to Ahmed Al Ahmed, who prevented further casualties by removing the long rifle from one of the gunmen.
At the Waltzing Matilda performance, dedicated to Matilda, the youngest victim of the deadly shooting, thousands of people sang together before groups of rabbis embraced each other as they sang Hebrew songs as the rain poured down.
Several speakers from Jewish groups spoke at the vigil, where Mr. Albanese was loudly booed and Mr. Minns applauded, and openly called for a federal royal commission.
The Minns government plans to introduce tougher laws on hate speech and gun ownership on Monday.
One of the slain gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, was in possession of six legally permissible firearms under his licence.
His son, Naveed Akram, 24, is accused of 59 crimes, including 15 murders.
NSW’s peak agriculture group has warned proposed changes to firearms legislation are unworkable and warned they should not be “influenced by a knee-jerk reaction to atrocities”.
Civil society groups strongly condemned Mr Minns’s proposed legislation to allow protests to be banned for up to three months after terrorist attacks, saying it would reduce dissent.
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