Bondi Beach attack raises safety concerns for Canada’s Jewish community

Authorities in Australia are vowing to tighten their country’s gun laws following the attack on a Jewish celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

In Canada and Hamilton, Jewish people are expressing new concerns for their safety in the wake of the attack, and are calling on the federal government to crack down on hate.

Jewish leaders in Canada are calling on other Canadians to come together in a show of support following the Bondi Beach shooting.

At the same time, there was a highly-visible police and security presence Monday at the Anshe Shalom Temple in Hamilton.

Australian authorities say so far that at least 15 people were killed and many more injured in the Bondi Beach attack carried out at a festival to mark the start of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah.

Police say the accused attackers were a father and son.

The father was killed by police and the son shot and critically injured after he was tackled by a man hailed as a hero.

READ MORE: Rabbi killed in Australia Hanukkah attack was ‘very special,’ Toronto relative says

That man has been identified as Syrian Muslim Ahmed al-Ahmed and is now recovering in hospital with a visit from the Premier of New South Wales. A Go Fund Me page to help him is closing in on $2 million.

In the wake of the attack, Prime Minister Carney attended a Hanukkah ceremony in Ottawa saying Canada stands in sorrow with Australia and Jewish people everywhere.

Premier Doug Ford called on people to join with Jewish people.

“These acts of hate and violence, driven by anti-Semitism, are unacceptable in Australia, in the U.S., in Ontario and anywhere in the world,” says Premier Ford on Monday.

“We need to come together to support our Jewish friends and neighbours as they grieve and to help them feel safe in our communities.”

READ MORE: ‘Scared but resilient:’ Hanukkah celebrations go ahead despite deadly attack abroad

“Tonight being the second night of Hanukkah I’ll add the second candle,” says Cantor Paula Baruch at the Temple Anshe Shalom in Hamilton.

Baruch was preparing the menorah to continue the Hanukkah ceremony of bringing light to the darkness of winter.

With police and security around the Temple, she says people in Hamilton are reeling from the attack.

“There’s been such an uptick in anti-Semitism around the world but we certainly feel it here in Canada,” says Baruch.

“For so long we felt that this was a safe haven for us, and now Jews are scared, Jews are scared in Canada.”

While other Jewish leaders say more has to be done to allow Jewish people to live safely in this country.

“This is a crisis and like all other crises it requires an all of government approach and we have not seen that yet,” says Richard Robertson from B’nai Birth Canada.

WATCH MORE: 16 killed, 29 injured in shooting at Australian beach Hanukkah event

They say anti-Semitism has grown because of Canada’s tolerance for extremist views.

“When something happens against the Jewish community’s freedom of speech, we have to tolerate that, it’s a country where all opinions are welcome. But you know it’s not working. It’s time to re-evaluate some of the limits and some of the dimensions of freedom of speech,” says Gustavo Rymberg from Hamilton’s Jewish Federation.

“Anti-Semitism from all sides, right wing and left, extreme polarization and radicalization and we need to confront these societal ills before something like what happened in Sydney occurs here,” Robertson says.

But Jewish leaders in Hamilton are hoping to bring people together in the wake of the tragedy in Australia. They’re working out plans for an event that will include Jewish and non-Jewish members of the Hamilton community before the end of the eight-days of Hanukkah. They haven’t firmed up the details yet.

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