Australia Sydney in shock after the attack
People mourn and lay flowers at Bondi Beach
Image: Keystone
The sympathy in Sydney after the attack is huge
Image: Keystone
Sydney and Australia stand together.
Image: Keystone
The people of Sydney lay flowers on Bondi Beach.
Image: Keystone
A Jewish candlestick lights up at the Sydney Opera House.
Image: Keystone
People mourn and lay flowers at Bondi Beach
Image: Keystone
The sympathy in Sydney after the attack is huge
Image: Keystone
Sydney and Australia stand together.
Image: Keystone
The people of Sydney lay flowers on Bondi Beach.
Image: Keystone
A Jewish candlestick lights up at the Sydney Opera House.
Image: Keystone
The day after the attack on a Jewish festival in Sydney, hundreds of people gathered on Monday at the scene of the attack, Bondi beach. They laid flowers, cried and hugged each other. Only prayer and singing broke the silence.
16.12.2025, 08:01
SDA
It was a day when the city woke up and briefly hoped that it had only been a nightmare. Then the messages on your cell phone catapulted you back to reality. Social media contained messages of sympathy, calls for blood donations, tips on where to report trauma victims and in between - sometimes uncensored - video footage of the attack. Many posted a picture of Bondi Beach. Everyone in Sydney probably has one in their photo library.
Bondi Beach is like Bern's Marzili or Zurich's Letten and yet so much more. Like the Kappellbrücke in Lucerne or the Jet d'Eau in Geneva, the beach is a landmark. These posts on social media are accompanied by a broken heart, a candle. Despite the urge to express their sympathy, people are at a loss for words.
Start of the Jewish Festival of Lights
"There is nothing to say, no words," Rabbi Yehuda Straiton told the reporter from the Keystone-SDA news agency outside the pavilion on Bondi Beach. Many members of the Jewish community gathered there on Monday. Several wore a kippah. Some put a tefillin around their arms. The Israeli flag hung next to the Australian flag.
At the time of the attack on Sunday evening, the rabbi was in the synagogue, which is located not far from the beach. "We were busy lighting the candles," said Straiton. His son was at the celebrations on the beach. Hanukkah began this Sunday. With the eight-day festival of lights, Jews commemorate the rededication of the second temple in Jerusalem in the second century BC.
When Straiton heard what was happening, he rushed to the beach. "Then we found ourselves in the middle of a pogrom," he said. The rabbi interrupted the conversation to give a crying man a hug.
"Spreading goodness"
"We spread light," Straiton said, turning back to the reporter. "Our response is not violence," he emphasized several times. Hanukkah is about bringing light into a dark time. Candles are lit to spread goodness and kindness, says the rabbi. "What happened is unbelievable and yet it was conceivable for some," he added. There had been clear warning signs.
Since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, anti-Semitic motivated acts have increased worldwide. Australia is no exception. Last year, there was an arson attack on a kosher restaurant in Sydney. A fire was also set in a synagogue in Melbourne.
People show respect
In this multicultural metropolis of millions, the shock extends beyond religious boundaries, as can be seen in front of the pavilion on Bondi Beach. In the semi-circle formed around the flowers, two men performed a prayer chant on Monday. They wore a dastar, the Sikh turban.
"We have come to pay our respects," said a local resident who is not Jewish. He said he was shocked that a terrorist attack had happened practically on his doorstep. The man could hardly describe what was going through his mind. "Speechless" is a word that came up frequently that day.
