MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Thousands of mourners gathered under tight police security at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday evening to mark a week since two gunmen targeting a Jewish festival killed 15 people. Since then, Australian governments have been galvanized into action on countering antisemitism and tightening already strict national gun controls.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, his predecessors John Howard and Scott Morrison, and Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state King Charles III, were among the dignitaries at the commemoration that drew more than 10,000 people.
“This has to be the nadir of antisemitism in our country,” New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip told the crowd. “This has to be the moment when light starts to eclipse the darkness.”
The crowd booed Albanese when Ossip acknowledged his presence. Opposition leader Sussan Ley, who had said that a conservative government led by her would reverse a decision made by Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government this year to recognize a Palestinian state, was cheered.