Grief, tears and anger as funerals for people slain in Australian antisemitic mass shooting begin

SYDNEY — With harrowing expressions of grief and declarations of faith, hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney on Wednesday to begin funerals for the victims of an antisemitic mass shooting in which gunmen targeted Jews celebrating Hanukkah.

The two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach, with more than 20 other people still being treated in hospitals. All of the victims identified so far were Jewish.

The funerals began as a country reeling from its deadliest hate-fueled 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 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 organized Sunday's 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.

''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.

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 night to remember her name.

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. 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.

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 traveled to the country from Nov. 1 to Nov. 28 along with Naveed Akram, 24, giving the city of Davao as their final destination.

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-fueled 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 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.

Australians come together to grieve

Meanwhile, Australians seeking ways to make sense of the horror settled on practical acts: Hours-long lines were reported at blood donation sites and a mound of floral tributes at the shooting site has grown wider by the hour. At dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of swimmers formed a circle on the sand, where they held a minute's silence. Then they ran into the sea.

Not far away, part of the beach remained behind police tape as the investigation into the massacre continued, shoes and towels abandoned as people fled still strewn across the sand.

One event that would return to Bondi was the Hanukkah celebration the attackers targeted, which has run for 31 years, said Ulman.

Ulman said Hanukka on Bondi Beach, an annual event for the past 31 years, must continue. Schlanger had been involved in its organization for the last 18 years. People like the attackers hoped to make people feel that it was dangerous to live as Jews, Ulman said.

''We're going to show the world that the Jewish people are unbeatable."

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