GENOCIDE eventually emerged as a broadly acceptable descriptor of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip after more than a year of relentless violence entailing tens of thousands of fatalities. It’s harder to find a single word to describe what happened on Australia’s Bondi Beach last Sunday evening.
A crime against humanity? Antisemitic terrorism? A pogrom? Tick, tick, tick. It is not, however, “reasonable to surmise”, as New York Times columnist Bret Stephens claims, that the father-and-son team of killers thought they were “globalising the intifada” — unless they were as ignorant as Stephens about what the phrase implies. Conflating a call for uprisings against oppression with a heinous massacre is an absurd ideological ploy. Even more ridiculous, though, are the voices blaming the crime on Australia’s token recognition of a Palestinian state, or the protests in solidarity with the Gazan victims of genocide.
The bodies of those slain at Bondi were barely cold before Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, eager for a distraction from the horrors he continues to inflict on Gaza, began blaming his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, for the Bondi bloodshed. The Albanese government’s “antisemitism envoy”, Jillian Segal, chipped in with her two cents’ worth. Some of the suggestions in her report earlier this year on combating antisemitism echo the aims of the US-based Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther in terms of curbing criticism of Israel and effectively criminalising solidarity with Palestinians.
Contrary to Netanyahu’s allegations, the Australian government deserves to be taken to task for its disgraceful reluctance to take a stand against the Gaza genocide. If anything, its refusal to halt the flow of materiel lays it open to the charge of facilitating Israel’s monstrous depravity. It’s also worth noting that no egregious instances of antisemitic violence have been recorded in countries — from South Africa and Spain to Ireland and Colombia — whose governments have been more forthright in condemning Israel’s violations of civilised norms.
The crime in Australia must not serve as a distraction.
We do not know exactly what motivated Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram to pursue their murderous intent on Sunday. There can, of course, be no doubt that they intended to target Jews, as they aimed their guns at a Hanukkah celebration. The 15 dead victims ranged from a 10-year-old to a Holocaust survivor and a couple of rabbis.
One of the rabbis, London-born Eli Schlanger, has been described as “a person who personified godliness and holiness”, and who lived “for no other reason than to do good deeds”. These qualities stretched to vociferous support for the Gaza genocide — he reportedly posed with Israeli soldiers. A ‘good deed’ in some eyes, no doubt. But he was targeted merely for participating in a harmless festive event.
Naveed Akram was investigated six years ago for connections to Islamic State. Australia’s intel agencies did not pursue the matter much further. His father, who was reportedly also interviewed at the time, owned six licensed hunting rifles — apparently not above average. The top 100 licence holders in New South Wales own 13,000 weapons altogether. Why is that permitted? Australia is revisiting the curbs imposed nearly 30 years ago, after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, to make the rules for owning weapons more stringent. The suggestions include keeping non-citizens out of the weapon-owning fraternity. That would be sensible, but possibly insufficient.
Sajid was not an Australian citizen, but Naveed is. If he survives, his testimony might offer indications of his (and his dad’s) aims. They would undoubted-ly be disagreeable and stupid, but it would still be useful to know.
The surge in antisemitism reported across the West can be deplored, but at the same time acknowledged as an unwise response to Israel’s deadly proclivities. Israel and its PM have struggled with the notion that Ahmed al-Ahmed, an Australian born in Syria, disarmed one of the wretched shooters responsible for the Bondi atrocity. He is among the dozens of victims recovering in hospital, and has been hailed as a hero — while also being misidentified as Jewish (by Netanyahu) and by Grok as a non-existent Brit called Edward Crabtree.
The bloodshed at Bondi was horrendous. None of the victims deserved to be demonised or crucified. Its consequences will play into Australia’s struggle to pose as a supposedly decent state that nonetheless facilitates a genocide.
Jews in Australia (fewer than 0.5pc of the population) deserve to live without fear. That also goes for everywhere else. But so do Palestinians. And anyone who disputes that deserves to be pilloried, but not murdered. Anyone targeting Jews for their identity falls in the same category as Zionists murdering Palestinians and rejoicing in the consequences.
Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2025
