“`html
On December 14th, as helicopters hovered above, sirens pierced the air in her suburb, and residents fled in terror down her street, Mary experienced a chilling sense of déjà vu.
“That was when I knew there was something seriously wrong – again,” she recounted, her eyes welling with tears.
Mary, who requested anonymity, was present at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center last April when a man in a psychotic state fatally stabbed six individuals, a tragedy that remains etched in the memories of many.
The findings of a coronial inquest into the April incident were scheduled for release this week but were postponed after two gunmen opened fire on an event marking the commencement of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah eight days prior.
Authorities declared the event a terror attack, in which 15 people were fatally shot, including a 10-year-old girl who still had face paint adorning her face.
The first paramedic to respond to the horrific scene at the Chanukah by the Sea event was also the first paramedic on the scene at the Westfield stabbings.
“You just wouldn’t even fathom that something like this would happen,” Mary, 31, originally from the UK, told the BBC. “I say constantly to my family at home how safe it is here.”
This sentiment was echoed in the days following the shooting, with many asserting that mass murder is an anomaly in Australia.
However, it has occurred – twice, in the same community, within an 18-month span.
The sea of flowers left by shocked and grieving individuals at Bondi is being cleared away. A national day of reflection has concluded. On Sunday night, Jewish Australians lit candles for the final time this Hannukah.
Yet, these two tragedies have left numerous individuals physically scarred and traumatized, while shattering the nation’s sense of security.
Bondi, Australia’s most renowned beach, is a globally recognized symbol of the country’s way of life.
It also represents a quintessential slice of Australian community. According to Mayor Will Nemesh, there is a strong sense of familiarity, where “everyone knows everyone,” which means that everyone knows someone affected by the December 14th tragedy.
“One of the first people I texted was [Rabbi] Eli Schlanger. And I said, ‘I hope you’re OK. Call me if you need anything’,” he recounted.
Tragically, the British-born father of five, also known as the “Bondi Rabbi,” was among the deceased.
First responders, including police and paramedics, would have been tending to members of their own community, while others faced the difficult task of treating the shooters who had targeted their colleagues.
“[Westfield Bondi Junction] was horrendous, something we’re certainly not used to. And then this again was massive, catastrophic injuries,” Ryan Park, the health minister for New South Wales, told the BBC.
“They’ve seen things that are like you would see in a war zone… You don’t get those images out of your head,” Park added.
Mayor Nemesh expressed his fear that this will forever tarnish Bondi and Australia.
“If this can happen here at Bondi Beach, it really could happen anywhere… the impact has reverberated around Australia.”
This sentiment is particularly poignant for the Jewish community, for whom Bondi has become a sanctuary.
“I swam here every day for years on end, rain or shine. And this week… I couldn’t get in the water. It didn’t feel right. It felt sacrilegious in some way,” Zac Seidler, a local clinical psychologist, told the BBC.
Many of the attack’s victims had migrated to Bondi over the decades seeking refuge from persecution, including 89-year-old Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman. Tragically, his life was bookended by violent acts of antisemitic hatred.
Mr. Seidler has spent the past two years trying to reassure his grandparents, who are also Holocaust survivors, and to maintain their belief in the inherent goodness of humanity.
“[My grandmother] kept saying, ‘These are the signs. I’ve seen this before’. And I just kept saying, ‘Not in Australia, not here. You’re safe’, just trying to soothe her.”
“But now I kind of feel like the fool.”
While communities are not monolithic, many Jewish Australians believe that warnings about a rise in antisemitism in the months leading up to the attack were disregarded.
The year began with a series of vandalism and arson incidents targeting Jewish landmarks in the suburbs surrounding Bondi and culminated in a mass murder targeting their community.
Despite the fear, there has been resistance, with some leaders urging Jewish Australians to reaffirm their identity, to be more publicly Jewish, and to proudly display their religious symbols.
However, one woman browsing the flowers outside the Bondi Pavilion on Sunday confessed that she was too afraid to do so. It took her all week to muster the courage to visit the site, located just meters from where many of the victims perished.
“I’ve never felt my Jewishness before. I’ve never experienced antisemitism in my whole life until now,” MaryAnne said. “And now, I don’t want to wear my Star of David.”
The shooting has triggered an outpouring of support from across the nation.
Upon hearing the news, many within the community rallied to provide assistance.
Lifeguards, both volunteer and paid, risked their lives. Restaurants opened their doors, sheltering individuals in storerooms and freezers, while locals welcomed lost children into their homes.
Even the New South Wales opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, who also serves as the local state member, was present at the scene, assisting with packing bullet wounds.
In the days following the shooting, thousands of ordinary Australians queued for hours to donate blood, which was desperately needed to treat the injured.
Each day, a growing carpet of petals, handwritten notes, commemorative stones, and candles spread outwards from the gates of the Bondi Pavilion.
Bee motifs, including stickers, balloons, and even pavement art, can be seen throughout the suburb, in remembrance of Matilda, the terror attack’s youngest victim.
Surfers and swimmers on Friday paddled out beyond Bondi’s iconic breaks to honor those who lost their lives.
A day later, surf lifesavers and lifeguards stood shoulder to shoulder on the beach in solidarity with the Jewish community.
However, amidst the platitudes, sadness, and shock, a sense of anger and tension is solidifying.
Last year’s Bondi Junction stabbings were devastating for the community, but a shared resolve united it.
Experts have determined that the attacker, who had schizophrenia, was in a psychotic state at the time of the stabbings. His family has stated that he was frustrated by his inability to find a girlfriend. While the question of whether he specifically targeted women may never be answered, significant failures in the mental health system have been identified.
Last month, the families of the victims urged the coroner to refer the doctor who weaned the attacker off his medication with limited supervision to regulators for investigation. They have also advocated for a substantial increase in funding for mental health services.
However, last Sunday’s events have raised more unsettling feelings and questions.
There is palpable fury at the government over a perceived and admitted failure to take sufficient action to combat antisemitism. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been booed during public appearances this week, and individuals visiting the site of the attack in Bondi have frequently demanded his resignation.
Many individuals who spoke with the BBC pointed to his government’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood, alongside countries such as the UK and Canada, as well as regular protests in Australia by members of the pro-Palestinian movement, which, while largely peaceful, have been punctuated by antisemitic chants and placards.
The state of New South Wales, which has tightened protest regulations in recent years, has announced that it will introduce further legislation to crack down on “hateful” chants and grant police greater authority to investigate demonstrators. The federal government has pledged similar measures.
However, the assignment of blame to these protests does not resonate with many, even within certain segments of the Jewish community.
“We need to hold multiple truths,” Mr. Seidler stated. “We can be afraid, we can feel that there is deep antisemitic rhetoric going on in certain circles within Australia… while also understanding that there is a right of people in this country – especially Muslim Australians – to be concerned about what is taking place in Gaza.”
“We need to get better at finding that line and calling out when that line has been crossed.”
For others, there is resentment towards what they perceive as the politicization of a tragedy.
“It’s a bloody photo op,” one woman remarked on Sunday as a prominent Australian businesswoman arrived and began posing with the floral tributes outside the Bondi Pavilion.
Some, including local federal MP Allegra Spender, are concerned that the attack is being used to stoke anti-immigration sentiment.
“We would not have had the man who saved so many Australians if we had cut off, for instance, Muslim immigration,” she stated.
Mr. Seidler contends that such arguments fail to acknowledge that antisemitic views, as well as other forms of bigotry, are also cultivated domestically.
“I heard someone say the other day that Australia thinks it’s on a holiday from history, that we’re somehow immune to this stuff, that it’s not bred here, it’s imported,” Mr. Seidler said.
Alongside the anger, there is also fear: fear within the Jewish community of further attacks, and fear within the Muslim community of retaliatory actions for an act of terror that they have vehemently condemned.
Questions have been raised regarding how Australia’s security agency mishandled an alleged terrorist who was previously on their watch list, prompting a review into federal police and intelligence agencies that was announced on Sunday.
There is frustration directed at NSW Police, who have been warned for years by the Muslim community about hate preachers recruiting their young men.
There is animosity towards the media, fueled by a sense of hurt among both Jewish and Arab Australians, who believe that they and their communities have been misrepresented, and frustration over what some perceive as incitement against them.
There is also a sense of unease regarding the treatment of traumatized victims throughout the week, some of whom were interviewed live on television while the blood of their friends still stained their hands.
Underlying all of this is a pervasive sense of suspicion towards institutions and each other.
While there are diverging opinions on how these rifts can be healed, or even whether they can be, there is a shared determination to try.
One UK expat who was at the beach at the time of the shooting said that everyone he has spoken to is resolute that this will not change Bondi or Australia.
“It’s seriously unique what you have as a nation… there’s a magic about it,” Henry Jamieson told the BBC.
“I’m traumatized… and I’m going to have to deal with that for the rest of my life, I know I am… even people who weren’t there were traumatized.”
“But I’m not gonna let it shake me and we will not let it shake this community.”
“You can’t let them win,” he said of the alleged terrorists.
At an emotional memorial on Sunday night, seven days after the attack, the same spirit of defiance was evident. The event concluded with the lighting of the menorah, an act that the crowds gathered for Hannukah the previous week were unable to perform.
The shamash, the center candle, was lit by the father of Ahmed al Ahmed in recognition of his bravery in wrestling a gun away from one of the attackers. The children of the two rabbis who were killed lit another. Additional candles were lit by a representative of surf lifesavers and a Jewish community medic who rushed to the scene and began treating the injured before the shooting had even stopped. The final candle was lit by Michael, the father of Matilda, who has been described as a fountain of joy to all who knew her.
After a diverse array of Australians had ignited the flames on each arm of the menorah, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of Bondi Chabad made a plea for greater love and unity.
“Returning to normal is not enough,” he declared.
“Sydney can and must become a beacon of goodness. A city where people look out for one another, where kindness is louder than hate, where decency is stronger than fear, and we can make it happen,” he said, pausing momentarily as the crowd applauded.
“But only if we take the feelings we have right now and turn them into action, into continuous action.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed as he arrived at the memorial event.
Anthony Albanese says the country must be in a position to respond to “the rapidly changing security environment”.
Pakistan’s former PM, who is already serving time in prison, plans to challenge the verdict.
England’s Bazball regime is in tatters as yet another Ashes series in Australia is lost at the earliest possible opportunity.
BBC Sport chief cricket reporter Stephan Shemilt reveals the inside story of England’s Ashes defeat in Australia on and off the pitch.
“`