"Globalize the Intifada" arrives in Australia with 11 dead, plus injured at a Chanukkah celebration

by Janesaunt

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Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 at 7:41:01am PST

Any candelabrum is a menorah The Chanuka menorah - the Chanukiah - has 9 branches, eight for each night of the chag, and one that is the shamash or shamess, a caretaker candle for lighting all the rest. The menorah that is the symbol of the State of Israel has seven branches, and is the kind found in synogogues throughout the year. The 7 branches represent the week, more specifically the invention - so to speak - of the democratic idea of the sabbath - shabat, shabbat, shabbos - meaning seventh day of the week, as a day of rest for all in society, not the privileged alone. -- Image use permitted with attribution under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

The first I knew there was a shooting was from a text I saw when I first woke up this morning. My brother and sister in law are traveling in Australia and were in Sydney. The text read: “We were not near Bondi Beach” They kept in short because it was sent ~2am my time.

I went straight to Twitter and didn’t even need to search because the horrific news was at the top of the search feed. Nearly a dozen people murdered at a “Chanukkah by the Sea” event!

Confirmed: The Bondi Beach shooting occurred during Chanukah by the Sea, a public, family-oriented Chanukah celebration organized by the Jewish community.

Bondi Beach Park near the children’s playground, with activities for all ages and a public menorah lighting. pic.twitter.com/QEM7fpZ4jU
— Sean M. Campbell (@campbellmsean) December 14, 2025

The BBC is reporting that in addition to those killed there were 29 people sent to the hospital for their injuries. They’re also reporting that they recovered an IED from one of the car’s that they suspect belong to one of the two shooters.

One of the deceased is a Holocaust survivor.

BREAKING: Another victim of the Sydney Chanukah party attack has been identified as Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman.

Alex died saving his wife of five decades, Larissa. The elderly couple was celebrating with friends and family when the massacre began.

That is who the… pic.twitter.com/DRm0TyImoB
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 14, 2025

Imagine wanting to celebrate your joyous religious/cultural festival on a beautiful summer day only to realize you’ve been targeted by murderous bigots.

We, very sadly, can expect gun fire here, as we saw last night in Rhode Island, but that is not the same situation around the world, and especially Australia.

A lot of credit has rightly been directed to this hero who disarmed one of the shooters. Bold move that paid off in lives saved.

Wow! This man is a hero. Watch him wrestle the rifle from one of the Bondi Beach shooters.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2025-12-14T11:59:49.393Z

Closing with this — in case you thought this was an isolated incident in Australia, (or elsewhere), I’m here to dispel you of that idea.

Please keep the Jewish community of Australia, and around the world in your thoughts and prayers.