By Blair
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was greeted with boos, jeers, and cries of “blood on your hands” as he arrived at a memorial for last week’s terrorist attack on a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach.
Video showed the center-left PM being widely heckled as he approached Sunday’s memorial service being held by Sydney’s Jewish community, a week after two gunmen killed 15 people during the devastating act of terror.
Protesters shouted, “blood on your hands,” “shame on you,” “not welcome,” and “you supported the intifada,” as the grim-faced Albanese walked up and took his seat in the front row at the event, where a makeshift stage and seating risers had been set up.
Some 10,000 mourners and dignitaries had gathered – under tight police security – on the iconic Sydney beach safter the federal and New South Wales state governments declared Sunday a national “Day of Reflection.”
Albanese was booed a second time, amid a smattering of applause, after his presence was acknowledged by the speaker on stage.
In contrast, opposition leader Sussan Ley, who had said a conservative government led by her would reverse Albanese’s Labor Party’s decision this year to recognize a Palestinian state, was met with a standing ovation.
Victims’ families feel “tragically, unforgivably let down” by the government’s failures to fight growing antisemitism in Australia since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin told the crowd.
“I’ve spent time with the families of the victims. They’re just in a bewildered state. They’re still in shock. They don’t know what to do with themselves, let alone contemplate moving forward and healing,” Ryvchin said.
“There’s a lot of anger in the community now as well. I think we’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed. And the community wants answers and we want change,” he said.
Albanese has vowed to strengthen Australia’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies following the attack.
“Tonight we stood together as Australians. To reject antisemitism. To remember the precious lives we lost one week ago. And to wrap our arms around the Jewish community who are grieving. This has been a dark week for Australia, but we will never let hate divide us,” he said in a statement on X following the memorial.
“WE stood together? Who is ‘we’? You got booed by almost everyone in attendance and rightly so,” one X user wrote, sharing video of the PM’s welcome.
“You let the mobs scream ‘gas the Jews’ in your streets. You watched the chants, the threats, the flags and said nothing. And now, when it’s too late, you speak of unity? You don’t get to mourn the fire you helped spread,” added another X user.
13 of those wounded in last Sunday’s horrific attacks remain in Sydney-area hospitals, health officials said.
They include one of the alleged gunmen, Naveed Akram, 24, who was shot by police.
He has been charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to those wounded.
Akram’s father, Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.
