At Bondi, Jewish leader reads message from Ahmed al Ahmed, who disarmed gunman: ‘I stand with you’

Speaking to the crowd at a memorial marking one week since the deadly terror attack on a Jewish event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, local Jewish leader David Ossip reads a message from Ahmed al Ahmed, the bystander who rushed to disarm one of the gunmen during the massacre.

Ossip, who heads the local Jewish Board of Deputies, pays tribute to Israeli Gefen Bitton and Ahmed, who both ran toward the terrorist amid the shooting and, Ossip says, “whose unbelievable bravery saved so many lives last week.” Both were wounded during the confrontation.

Ossip notes to cheers that Ahmed’s father is in the crowd, and says he saw Ahmed earlier in the day.

“Ahmed has asked me to pass on the following message to us all: ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. Today, I stand with you, my brothers and sisters,'” Ossip says. “Thank you, Ahmed.”

He also praises the resilience of the Jewish community.

“The answer to the current situation cannot just be more security and larger compounds,” he says.

“Up until two years ago, Australia was always the lucky country for Jews. But sadly no more. We’ve lost our innocence,” he says. “We’ve seen the strength and resilience of the Jewish community, our community, who refused to retreat or cower or become consumed by vengeance, but instead have become more determined to build back bigger and better than before, prouder of who we are and more united.”

He adds, “The terrorists have picked the wrong community to mess with, because we, the Jewish community, are unbreakable. Resilience is in our veins.”

The crowd begins singing “Am Yisrael chai,” Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.”