‘Sadly, this is the Australia we now know’: Perth Rabbi emotional as his synagogue is patrolled by police

2 months ago 5

An emotional Perth Rabbi has arrived to his local synagogue on Monday morning to find police officers patrolling the area in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack on Sunday night, which has killed at least 16 people, many of whom were at an event celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.

Chabad of Western Australia Rabbi Shalom White said the WA Jewish community was in shock following the mass shooting tragedy, which forced the last-minute cancellation of its own Hanukkah event over safety concerns.

Members of the public help emergency services following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.

“We’re all still coming to grips with the tragedy, but one of the things which we have within our Jewish culture is this element of faith, this element of hope,” he said.

“The actual festival that we’re celebrating is the festival of light, which on the first day we light one candle, and on the second we light two because we believe that things will get better, we believe that a small amount of light will deflect darkness.”

White said the country needed to stand up to evil and hatred.

“Many people say this isn’t the Australia which we know, and sadly for the Jewish people, over the last two years, this is the Australia which we know,” he said.

“When week after week, terrorist sympathisers have been able to walk the streets, when we get told we can’t go to the CBD at certain times because of our own safety, that is very indicative of the Australia that sadly we are experiencing.”

WA Police tactical response officers, along with Australian Federal Police, and private security guards patrolled Perth’s synagogues and gathering places overnight.

WA Police also released a statement saying it would do all it could to reassure the community.

“The thoughts of the entire Western Australia Police Force are with everyone in New South Wales following the tragic incident that has occurred in Bondi,” the statement read.

“There is no intelligence at this time indicating there is any heightened threat in Western Australia.”

WA Premier Roger Cook is expected to meet with members of WA’s Jewish community on Monday morning.

At least 16 people were shot dead and 40 injured, including two police officers, at Sydney’s Bondi Beach after two gunmen opened fire on a large crowd celebrating a Jewish festival, in what NSW Premier Chris Minns has described as a terrorist attack.

Just after 6.40pm on Sunday, hundreds of terrified people who were celebrating the Hanukkah festival at the beach started running for their lives as shots were fired.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was a targeted attack on Jewish Australians, and an act of evil anti-Semitism.

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