A vigil at Bondi Beach has marked one week since the attack that killed six people, with Rabbi Yehoram Ulman telling the crowd that Sydney could become a “beacon of goodness” in response to the tragedy. The gathering on the final night of Hanukah came after the attack, which occurred on the first night of the Jewish festival.
Rabbi Ulman, who led the lighting of a menorah alongside local figures and Australian Olympian Jessica Fox, said “light will win” if the community turns its emotions into “continuous action”. He invoked the seven biblical laws as a foundation for civilisation, urging respect for life, rejection of violence and the pursuit of justice.
The New South Wales government, meanwhile, will move to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” in a crackdown on what it called hateful rhetoric. NSW Premier Chris Minns said a royal commission into the attack would complete the “jigsaw” and give Australians the answers they seek.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed by some attendees as he arrived at the vigil, and again during official welcomes. He has asked former ASIO chief Dennis Richardson and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to lead a review of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, also called for a royal commission.
Thirteen people injured in the attack remain in hospital. In a separate development, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce addressed a small anti-immigration rally in Sydney despite the premier’s plea for it not to go ahead. A floral memorial left by community members will be removed on Monday for historical preservation.
