On a popular beach in Australia, the darkness of antisemitism intruded on the Festival of Light.
Instead of celebrating a Jewish holiday, Jews were slaughtered.
For the second time in two months, Jewish people on opposite sides of the world were targeted and attacked on a major religious holiday.
On Oct. 2, two men were killed in an attack ata synagogue in Manchester, England, during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year. On Sunday, Dec. 14, at least15 people were killedand dozens of others were wounded when two gunmen opened fire on a crowd of about 1,000 gathered on the sweeping white sands of Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, for an event marking the beginning of eight-day Hanukkah festival. Australian authorities labeled the shooting a terrorist attack.
One of the gunmen has since died, bringing the death toll to 16 people.
Bondi Beach attack:16 dead in Australia shooting targeting Jewish Hanukkah party on beach
At least 16 killed in Bondi Beach "terrorist" attack in Australia
The attacks mark the latest escalation in an antisemitism epidemic that has worried the heads of the seven largest Jewish communities since Hamas' assault on Jews in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Simchat Torah holiday.
Antisemitism has been on the rise all over the world since the start of the Israel-Hamaswar in Gaza. The New York-basedAnti-Defamation Leaguereported in January that nearly half of the world's adult population – an estimated 2.2 billion people – harbors deeply entranced antisemitic attitudes.
"Here in the U.S. and around the world, we've been seeing a tsunami of anti-Jewish hate in the past two years, especially post-Oct. 7, 2023," said Marina Rosenberg, the Anti-Defamation League's senior vice president for international affairs.
In Australia, the spike in hate directed at Jews has been so alarming that, just a week before the shooting, a group of Jewish leaders representing the United States, Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Argentina and Australia convened in Australia. The countries are home to the largest Jewish populations in the diaspora, known as the J7.
"We chose to go all the way to Australia because we are so concerned about the rise of antisemitism there," said Rosenberg, who attended the meetings.
William Daroff, who took part in last week's gathering, was on a plane heading home when he learned of the shooting. He was about 10 hours into a nearly 15-hour flight from Sydney to Houston when he got the first news alert. Friends started texting him to make sure he was OK.
Daroff, chief executive officer of the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, later learned that a friend who was at the event was wounded by a bullet that grazed his ear. Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event, was among those killed.
This year alone, 1,654 incidents targeting the Jewish community have been reported in Australia, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Last year, there were 2,062. For comparison, just 495 cases were reported in 2023 and 478 in 2022.
Jewish leaders in Australia have been warning the government for months that tragedy was going to strike unless they did something to prevent it, Joel Burnie, executive manager at the Australia, Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, said during a phone interview from Melbourne.
"This event was entirely avoidable," Burnie said of the shooting, "and it was avoidable through stern and strong leadership, which, unfortunately, there is a clear vacuum of in this country."
The leaders that attended the J7 meeting want members of Australia's Jewish community to know they're not alone, Rosenberg of the ADL said, and to call on the Australian government to do a better job of addressing the rise of anti-Jewish hatred.
Last year, the Australian government appointed a special envoy, Jillian Segal, to look into ways to combat antisemitism. Segal issued her report in June and made 49 recommendations, but the government has yet to act on them.
"I think that tells you everything you need to know about the position of this current government," Burnie said.
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Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that Australiasevered ties with Iran and expelled its diplomatsaccusing the country of directing attacks against a Jewish business in Sydney and a Melbourne synagogue.
While they were in Australia, Daroff and other Jewish leaders stayed about three blocks from Bondi Beach, where the attack occurred. Last weekend, Daroff and others had lunch with Schlanger at the home of the rabbi's father.
The shooting hit close to home, he said, because it happened at the start of Hanukkah, when Jewish people light candles to commemorate the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days in the Second Temple. Each night, a candle is added to a menorah, symbolizing the power of light over darkness.
"There will be these Hanukkah lightings all around the world," Daroff said. "Every Jew around the world feels any one of us could have been in that crowd at that menorah lighting (in Australia) or at any Jewish event anywhere in the world."
In the United States, Jews were the target of more than9,300 incidentslast year, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Two high-profile attacks occurred this year. Two youngIsraeli embassy stafferswere fatally shot outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington in May. In Boulder, Colorado, a man armed with flamethrower and molotov cocktailsattacked a Jewish groupparticipating in a "Run for Their Lives" solidarity walk in June for hostages taken by Hamas in Israel.
On Dec. 13 a resident of Redlands, California saidhis family was attacked by a drive-by shooter who aimed fireat his house that was decorated for Hanukkah. Police are investigating.
Ted Deutch, chief executive officer of the American Jewish Committee, said the attacks in England, Australia and the United States all have a common thread. They occurred "against the Jewish community at a moment when they were being proud Jews," he said.
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"What angers us most – and should anger everyone in society – is that these are attacks against Jews for being Jews," Deutch added. "In every instance, it was about attacking the Jewish community. No group should ever be targeted because of who they are, and that's what we've been enduring time after time."
Rosenberg said Jews all over the world are concerned for their safety after the attack in Sydney and other cities, and many are wondering whether they want to attend public Hanukkah festivities. Police in cities in the United States and all over the world are taking more measures to protect the Jewish community at such events.
"It's the right thing to do," Rosenberg said, "but we need to get to a place where Jews will not need armed protection just to celebrate their holidays."
Despite everything that has happened, Jews need to continue to celebrate Judaism as much as possible, just like any other religion or minority, she said.
"We cannot allow antisemitism to define us, and we cannot allow fear to extinguish our light," Rosenberg said.
Even so, she, like others, is taking precautions.
This year, there will be no "Happy Hannukah" signs outside her home.
Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X: @mcollinsNEWS
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Tsunami of anti-Jewish hate.' Bondi Beach shooting stokes fear
