Hero Ahmed al-Ahmed speaks on video: ‘God willing, we will return to you with joy’
Türkiye’s public broadcaster, TRT World, has posted a video of Syrian-born Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, who risked his life to disarm one of the alleged Bondi attackers and save multiple lives in Sydney, receiving treatment in hospital.
In the video, Ahmed is seen being wheeled around hospital while he sends prayers to supporters.
In the video, which has been subtitled by TRT, he says:
I appreciate the efforts of everyone. May Allah reward you and grant you well-being. God willing, we will return to you with joy. Thank you for your efforts.
Abdullah, Ahmed Al and Bilal, thank you to everyone. I went through a very difficult phase, only Allah knows it. Praise be to Allah for everything, and may Allah reward you with your efforts.
I ask my mother, the apple of my eye, to pray for me. Pray for me, my mother.
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Updated at 19.36 EST
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Asked about whether he supports reform on gun licenses and gun ownership, Howard says he’s not “aware of a crackdown”.
Last night’s national cabinet agreed to reform gun laws, including to stop gun licenses being granted in perpetuity.
Howard says that his gun laws, legislated after the Port Arthur massacre, would have stopped this tragedy having an even higher death toll.
What I am aware of that if the guns that my crackdown removed after Port Arthur had still been legally available, in other words automatic and semiautomatic weapons, the death toll gruesome though it was, it would be infinitely bigger.
Howard says he is open to changes to the legislation but concedes that there will always be “too many” guns in Australia.
There are truth there are too many guns in our community. People ignore laws, and it’s the potency of the weapon that was so drastically changed after Port Arthur. Just imagine if one of those criminals had had access to an automatic or semiautomatic weapon.
ShareKrishani Dhanji
Former PM John Howard is now speaking to journalists out of Sydney, and again says Anthony Albanese and foreign Penny Wong have not done enough over the past two years since 7 October 2023 to combat antisemitism.
Howard says Albanese hasn’t provided “moral leadership” in responding to antisemitism.
His greatest failure is not to provide the moral leadership that a prime minister can in denouncing antisemitism.
There is little doubt since 7 October 2023, not enough has been done by those who command authority and respect in our society to prevent cauterise and denounce the spread of antisemitism. And I hope that this terrible event will be a wake-up call to those who have been asleep at the wheel on this issue …
I’m ashamed of the fact that our relationship with Israel has broken down. Israel has been an ally of Australia.
He again celebrates the bravery of Ahmed al-Ahmed as well as the police and emergency workers who saved lives at the scene.
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Updated at 20.01 EST
Krishani Dhanji
John Howard praises Ahmed al-Ahmed’s courage
Jumping back to John Howard’s interview on Sky News, the former prime minister lauds the bravery of Ahmed al-Ahmed, who tackled one of the alleged gunmen and took his weapon from him.
Ahmed is in St George hospital – currently receiving a visit from the PM – while he recovers.
Howard says Ahmed’s actions are a reminder that the community should “not lose faith in the Australian achievement”.
I think that the single act of greatest courage we’ve seen is that magnificent man who tackled the bloke with the gun, and I understand he’s a Muslim … that is a reminder that there are good people of every persuasion in this wonderful country about and although it’s a terrible tragedy and a reminder that anything can happen here, we should not lose faith in the Australian achievement.
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Updated at 20.01 EST
Luca Ittimani
Prime minister visits Ahmed in hospital
Anthony Albanese is visiting the man who was injured disarming a Bondi gunman on Sunday.
The prime minister has just walked into St George hospital, where Ahmed al-Ahmed is recovering from his first round of surgery.
Albanese has praised Ahmed as a hero, as has the NSW premier. Chris Minns, who visited Ahmed in hospital and spoke to him on Monday night.
Anthony Albanese arrives at St George hospital on Tuesday, 16 December. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare
Updated at 19.47 EST
Howard continues Liberal attacks on Albanese claiming gun law changes are a ‘diversion’ to addressing antisemitism
Former Liberal prime minister, John Howard, says Anthony Albanese has let down Jewish Australians, and us using gun law changes as a “diversion” instead of tackling antisemitism.
Howard first brought in strict gun control in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 when 35 people were shot dead. Last night, after a national cabinet meeting, Albanese said there would be a further tightening of the laws.
But in an interview with Sky News, Howard says:
I don’t want that … to be degraded into a debate about changes to gun [laws], because that is a diversion. The issue here is antisemitism, the failure of the last two years has been that of the federal government, led by the prime minister Anthony Albanese, to bring sufficient energy to a broad-based attack on the evil of antisemitism.
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Updated at 19.43 EST
Hero Ahmed al-Ahmed speaks on video: ‘God willing, we will return to you with joy’
Türkiye’s public broadcaster, TRT World, has posted a video of Syrian-born Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, who risked his life to disarm one of the alleged Bondi attackers and save multiple lives in Sydney, receiving treatment in hospital.
In the video, Ahmed is seen being wheeled around hospital while he sends prayers to supporters.
In the video, which has been subtitled by TRT, he says:
I appreciate the efforts of everyone. May Allah reward you and grant you well-being. God willing, we will return to you with joy. Thank you for your efforts.
Abdullah, Ahmed Al and Bilal, thank you to everyone. I went through a very difficult phase, only Allah knows it. Praise be to Allah for everything, and may Allah reward you with your efforts.
I ask my mother, the apple of my eye, to pray for me. Pray for me, my mother.
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Updated at 19.36 EST
Benita Kolovos
Allan says best if states ‘act in concert’ on gun law reform
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says she strongly supported the national cabinet decision to strengthen gun laws across the nation. While she has criticised the pace of national reform in the past, she says it’s her preference to “act in concert” on this occasion.
Allan went on:
It is best that we act in concert. It is best that we act as one nationally – and that was certainly the intention out of yesterday’s national cabinet meeting, that not only do we need to act in a uniform way, we need to act with urgency … The work has already started.
There is a very strong understanding that it does need to come about with some urgency but as you could appreciate, we also need to make sure we get this next set of gun law reform right, and so that in terms of the drafting of the laws that will take the time it takes, but will be done with a sense of urgency.
Asked why the state was yet to move onto the national firearms register, Allan says they were working towards the 2028 deadline. She says:
The prime minister made it clear that he would like to see that date accelerated, and that is a commitment that we have given, and we’ll be looking at how we can bring forward the work that’s been done here in Victoria.
The police minister, Anthony Carbines, says:
Our government is committed to doing everything we can to meet earlier timelines … and I’m sure that will form part of our discussions at the police minister’s council tomorrow.
Jacinta Allan at St Kilda synagogue yesterday. Photograph: Jay Kogler/AAPShare
Updated at 19.14 EST
Ashes Test to pay tribute to victims of Bondi shooting
Australian singer John Williamson will perform his fabled song “True Blue” before play on Day 1 of the Adelaide Ashes Test tomorrow as a tribute to the victims of the Bondi shootings.
The performance will take place as the cricket world comes together to mourn the victims of this tragedy, support their families, friends and the Jewish community, and to express its unity.
Todd Greenberg, Cricket Australia CEO, said:
This is a tragic time for all Australians and the thoughts of everyone in the cricket world are with the victims of this terrible event, their families, friends and the Jewish community.
While sport can seem insignificant at times like this, we have the unusual opportunity to bring millions of people together to pay tribute, to console and to contemplate what we want our nation to be.
As John said recently, ‘I believe in a multicultural society, one where all Australians come together in unity to celebrate our unique multicultural nature and freedoms’.
We will continue to look at ways cricket can support and honour those who have been affected by the Bondi shootings and thank those who provided assistance during and since this tragedy.
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Updated at 18.55 EST
Premier says she understands response of boos and heckling to her presence at a shule last night
Allan is asked about the boos and heckling she received while attending a ceremony at a Caulfield shule last night. She says she understood why she received “that response”.
The premier goes on:
This is a community that is angry and is grieving. I understand that, and it’s why, as a leader, I show up and show my support, but also then take further action, which is why we’re here today.
We continue to take action every day to not just support the Jewish community, but go to some of the issues that Phil has identified around looking at every opportunity to deal with how you educate the evilness of antisemitism, understand history to help inform the present and build a stronger future.
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Updated at 18.50 EST
Benita Kolovos
Jewish leaders welcome funding but want to pursue more long-term solutions
In Victoria, standing with the premier is Elyse Schachna, the president of Zionism Victoria, who says that the announced funding is welcome but “short term”. She says:
It will address the issue short term but, long term, we have a bigger issue in our society to confront, and I’m very glad that the premier acknowledged that we have an issue and a problem of extremism in our state, in our country, and we look forward to seeing what will be put in place … to stamp out this extremism. It will take time, and the Jewish community cannot do it alone.
Phillip Zajac from the Jewish Community Council of Victoria says the Jewish community need “allies” from across Victoria to turn the tide against antisemitism:
We have to educate our way out of this. We need to humanise the Jewish people. We need to share our beautiful traditions. We need to explore the origins of antisemitism.
We need to remember the Holocaust, we need to be understood as Australians who have been here since the First Fleet, and are proud to contribute to this country, change will take time and the Jewish community cannot do it alone.
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Updated at 18.51 EST
Krishani Dhanji
PM ‘absolutely certain’ Ahmed al-Ahmed will be recognised as a hero
Anthony Albanese has indicated he’ll visit Ahmed al-Ahmed, the man hailed as a hero who tackled one of the alleged gunmen and took the gun out of his hands, who is currently in hospital.
Ahmed, who is in critical but stable condition at St George hospital in Sydney, also received a visit from the NSW premier, Chris Minns, last night.
The PM spoke to Nova Sydney this morning.
He was asked: “Are you planning to visit [Ahmed] and can we expect him to be recognised or rewarded by the country for his bravery?”
Albanese responded: “I am.”
I spoke to the premier after he visited Ahmed yesterday. He told me he’s a great character, and that he had asked about whether I’d be visiting him. He is a hero … I mean, it was extraordinary, that footage of essentially creeping up behind a gunman who’s involved in a mass shooting, and he was unarmed, and as a consequence he was shot twice as well, which is why he is in hospital.
He is a hero and that needs to be recognised and I’m absolutely certain that we will do that.
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Updated at 18.52 EST
He said he spoke to Eli Schlanger’s father yesterday.
Finally I would like to say that he has a widow. He has children. They don’t have a father today.
I sat with his father-in-law. One of the most beloved rabbis is not just in Australia but around the world. He was crying yesterday and said ‘the worst possible thing I would have to do, as a father, I have to sit with my grandchildren and tell them their father has been taken from us’.
His mother is sitting there with a husband who is dead and a son in the ICU.
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Updated at 18.49 EST
Rabbi Eli Schlanger mourned by Rabbi Eli Feldman
Rabbi Eli Feldman also spoke about his friend Rabbi Eli Schlanger:
The rabbi was like a brother to me. He has the same name, I studied together with him when we were teenagers.
What he would say right now is do another mitzvah. If you are a Jew, be more Jewish, wear your Star of David, be proud. We will be proud of who we are. Don’t water down your identity for the sake of being scared of what other people will say or do.
In addition, what the rabbi would say is not just for Jews but for every single Australian is be more godly. We are created in the image of God … Care for each other.
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Updated at 18.47 EST
Rabbi Eli Feldman says ‘the only way to stamp out darkness is with light’
Rabbi Eli Feldman spoke about the importance of coming together to stamp out hate:
Hanukah, which we are celebrating now, is the celebration of light. We light a candle and another candle. The only way to stamp out darkness is with light. Hatred, bigotry, evil, that is darkness. The Australian people need to combat that with the lights.
No matter the colour of their skin or what they believe, we are all created in the image of God. Every single human being is created in the image of God. Let’s love each other, care about each other.
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Updated at 18.45 EST
Rabbi Levi Woolf says Bondi attack is ‘a wake-up call’
Woolf:
It is a wake-up call. It is not just an attack on the Jewish community; it is an attack on every western-thinking person in this country.
Anybody who has value for life, anybody who appreciates every human being … Jewish Australians, non-Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist. I don’t care what religion you come from, you represent a child of God and you should be protected and not have to fear for your life.
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Updated at 18.34 EST
