Establishment figures across the world have condemned the killing of at least 15 people at Bondi Beach by a father and son with predictable language, saying they are “united” against such violence.
But much of the European right has responded differently to the attack, which targeted a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony, highlighting the risks of mass uncontrolled immigration.
The suspects have been identified as 24-year-old son Naveed Akram, who was born in Australia, and his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram, who moved to the country in 1998. Reports say they may have been linked to an Iranian-backed foreign terror cell, although Australian officials have not publicly confirmed any foreign involvement in the attack.
Sweden Democrats MEP Charlie Weimers said on Sunday that the atrocity meant it was “time to learn the real history of Islam, beyond the sanitised version.” His party leader, Jimmie Åkesson, added that “we must never back down a millimeter in the fight against these cowardly antisemites, whose sole aim is to murder innocent people.”
Balázs Orbán, the political director of the Hungarian prime minister, commented:
This tragedy reminds us all that today migration is a security risk, not an opportunity. It is time to face this reality responsibly.
And in Italy, Isabella Tovaglieri, MEP for Matteo Salvini’s Lega party, said the shooting—which could have been far worse had a brave civilian not stepped in—“reopens a very serious wound for the Western world: mass terrorism, as we knew it in 2015, is returning.”
For Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, the Hanukkah party attack shows that “the threat is everywhere.”
Farage criticised the response of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying that if he “was really concerned with the hatred and violence against Jewish people, he would ban the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Former British MP Kate Hoey also criticised EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her “very hollow-sounding response,” saying:
You have done nothing to stop antisemitism grow and indeed the support for Hamas-supporting marches shows the worst elements of the EU.
As of Monday morning, more than 50 victims remain in hospital.
Sajid Akram died at the scene of the attack. Naveed Akram, who has previously been examined over his “close ties” to a Sydney-based Islamic State terrorism cell, is alive and in hospital.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
