The funerals began as a country reeling from its deadliest hate-fuelled massacre of modern times turned to searching questions, growing in volume since the attack, about how it was able to happen.
As investigations unfold, Australia faces a social and political reckoning about antisemitism, gun control and whether police protections for Jews at events such as Sunday’s (December 14) were sufficient for the threats they faced.First, however, was a day of anguish for families from Sydney’s close-knit Jewish community who gathered, one after another, to begin to bury their dead. The victims of the attack ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.
A father of 5 who ministered in prisons is buried. The first farewelled was Eli Schlanger, 41, a husband and father of five who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi and organised Sunday’s (December 14) Chanukah by the Sea event where the attack unfolded.
The London-born Schlanger also served as chaplain in prisons across New South Wales state and in a Sydney hospital.
Also read: Bondi Beach attack was a ‘targeted, cowardly anti-semitic terror strike’: ASPI’s John Coyne
“After what happened, my biggest regret was — apart from, obviously, the obvious – I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him,” said Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who sometimes spoke through tears.
“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” Ulman said. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.” Funerals draw heavy police presence outside the funeral, not far from the site of the attack, the mood was hushed, tense and grim. A heavy police presence was visible on nearby streets, with officers checking identification cards of people making their way to the service.
Jews are usually buried within 24 hours from their deaths, but funerals have been delayed by coronial investigations.
Among others killed were Boris and Sofia Gurman, a husband and wife aged in their 60s who were fatally shot as they tried to disarm one of the gunmen when he got out of his car to begin the attack. Another Jewish man in his 60s, Reuven Morrison, was gunned down by one shooter while he threw bricks at the other, his daughter said.Many children attended the Hanukkah event, which featured face painting, treats and a petting zoo. The youngest killed was Matilda, 10, whose parents urged attendees at a vigil on Tuesday, December 16, night to remember her name.
“It stays here,” said Matilda’s mother, who identified herself only as Valentyna, pressing her hand over her heart. “It just stays here and here.” Charges are likely against one suspect. The suspects in the massacre were a father and son, aged 50 and 24, who had carried out “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Wednesday, December 17. The father, whom state officials named as Sajid Akram, was shot and killed.
His son, who hasn’t been formally named by the authorities, was being treated Wednesday at a hospital, where he had woken from a coma. Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located, told Australian news outlets that investigators expected to speak to and charge the younger suspect on Wednesday, December 17.
The authorities have said the younger suspect came to the attention of the security services in 2019 but have supplied little detail of their previous investigations. Now investigators will probe what was known about the men.
That includes examining a trip the suspects made to the Philippines in November. The Philippines Bureau of Immigration confirmed Tuesday that Sajid Akram travelled to the country from November 1 to November 28 along with Naveed Akram, 24, giving the city of Davao as their final destination.
Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for IS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past. Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.
Also read: Bondi Beach suspect father arrived in Philippines as ‘Indian national’: immigration
The younger suspect was Australian-born. Indian police on Tuesday said the older suspect was originally from the southern city of Hyderabad, migrated to Australia in 1998 and held an Indian passport.
Leader pledges action on guns and antisemitism. The news that the suspects were apparently inspired by the Islamic State group provoked more questions about whether Australia’s government had done enough to stem hate-fuelled crimes, especially directed at Jews. In Sydney and Melbourne, where 85% of Australia’s Jewish population lives, a wave of antisemitic attacks has been recorded in the past year.
After Jewish leaders and survivors of Sunday’s (December 14) attack lambasted the government for not heeding their warnings of violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed Wednesday to take whatever government action was needed to stamp out antisemitism.
Albanese and the leaders of some Australian states have pledged to tighten the country’s already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.
Albanese announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed six weapons legally. Proposed measures include restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens and limiting the number of weapons a person can hold.
