Heroes and Hatemongers: The Bondi Beach Terror Attack Invites Solidarity and a Rejection of Bigotry
The horrific terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia is the worst of humanity, radicalized by hate, but also reflects selfless bravery and decency that represents the majority.
It’s the same old story.
There’s breaking news of yet another mass shooting in America or abroad.
People of color do the “prayer,” first for the victims and then for our own communities. We hope the shooter doesn’t share our identity because we know collectively we will be blamed for the violent actions of one individual. Right-wing movements and governments, both here and abroad, will “politicize” the tragedy to fuel the engines of their never-ending culture war, promote guns, and rationalize increasing the budget of a wasteful and destructive military-industrial complex.
Whenever the shooter is a white man, the double standards in coverage, commentary, and political response are so glaring and hypocritical that they just become comical. However, the world exhales knowing all white people will not be racially profiled, threatened with deportation, or targeted by law enforcement and the President.
I’ve been writing variations of this story for nearly two decades now, ever since the 9-11 terror attacks and America’s failed War on Terror that killed, injured, and traumatized more than a million people and only exacerbated extremism and divisions.
It’s Groundhog Day meets Black Mirror.
On the first night of Hannukkah, two shooters, a father and son, opened fire at a Jewish community in Australia, killing 15 people. The victims ranged from ages 10 to 87. This is yet another example of anti-semitic hate that has exploded since the October 7th Hamas terror attack and Israel’s genocide against Palestinians. Without missing a beat, MAGA influencers such as Laura Loomer and Republican Senator Tuberville used the tragedy to blame Islam and Muslims. They were joined by Rep. Randy Fine, who recently said all mainstream Muslims should be “destroyed.”
They were ready to ramp up the right-wing hate machine and go into overdrive. However, a stunning video revealed that an unarmed hero was able to bumrush one of the terrorists, disarm him, and hold him at bay while being shot at by the second shooter. The hero is a 43-year-old vendor named Ahmed el Ahmed, a Muslim father. The bravery is so astonishing that even a few of the most hardcore MAGA influencers are suspending their usual hate to praise the man and caution against demonizing an entire people for the violence of a few. Jewish leaders in Australia and abroad have refused to let bigots exploit their tragedy to foment more divisions.
The truth remains that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have spiked in recent years and have been used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, including the Trump Administration, to promote conspiracies of “white genocide” and “the replacement theory,” which have radicalized individuals to commit violence. Now, mainstream MAGA promotes “remigration,” which is a white supremacist term for “ethnic cleansing” of all people of color from “the West.”
We’re all in this together, people.
The bigots hate all of us. They pit us against each other, but at the end of the day, if you’re a person of color, Jewish, Muslim, a woman, LGBTQ, Latino, or Black, then you are seen as the “other” and the invader.
Instead of “thoughts and prayers,” we must see each other’s humanity, stand in solidarity, and assemble against this hateful minority that adheres to a loser ideology of supremacy that never existed and, inshallah, with our combined efforts, never will.
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In a world where Jews cannot be targeted without a collective movement to victim blame, be like Ahmed al Ahmad. 43 year old father of two and fruit shop owner — with zero military training or experience with guns, while at least 4 cops on the scene were hiding — he put his life on the line to save strangers.
I’d like to see Antizionists loudly condemning both this attack on unarmed Jews celebrating Hanukkah, and especially their fellow Antizionists who are blaming the victims of this terrorism. But since that’s not going to happen — at least not from any prominent Antizionist leaders — I will settle for the glorification of courageous hero Ahmed al Ahmad. Nobody will ever know how many lives he saved.
Wishing a speedy recovery to all injured victims of this terrorist attack. Most especially, a speedy recovery to Ahmed al Ahmad, who apparently was shot twice in the arm by another shooter after he disarmed one of them.
It is indeed ironic that the one person brave enough to wrestle the gun away from a fanatical terrorist was a Muslim himself! It's a small minority of people who hate Jews, but a growing demographic who hate the Israeli government! What they've done in "retaliation" for the attack two years ago is tantamount to attempted genocide, and the use of starvation to kill thousands of Palestinians ranks right up there with the Nazis' worst atrocities!