![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_01KCEXWN14KTXHF3XAW7YZPHZP.jpg\")
Around 100 mourners gathered outside Australia House last night (December 14)(Image: James Manning\/PA Wire)<\/p>\nAt least 15 people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl and a British-born rabbiAround 100 mourners gathered outside Australia House last night (December 14)(Image: James Manning\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Around hundred people gathered at a vigil in Westminster last night (December 14) to pay tribute to the victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. At least 15 people, including a London-born rabbi<\/a>, have died and 38 were injured when a father-son duo shot at a Jewish celebration in Sydney on Sunday, Australian police said.<\/p>\n Yisroel Lew, a rabbi at Chabad of Bloomsbury and Marylebone<\/a>, spoke at the gathering outside Australia House on Sunday night. Wishing every attendee an “illuminated Hanukkah”, he said: “Just a small amount of light, a small good deed, can drive away a long darkness and that has always been the Jewish response, that remains our response.<\/p>\n “After hearing what happened, the first thought was: how can we get more light, how can we bring more light into the world, how can we have more Hanukkah events? Go to Hanukkah events, don\u2019t be afraid and celebrate Hanukkah.”<\/p>\n He told attendees that Eli Schlanger, a Golders Green native who was among those killed<\/a> in the attack, was a childhood friend of his. \u201cHe really was a picture of kindness, of warmth, of service, of helping others,\u201d Rabbi Lew said.<\/p>\n He then lit a menorah to mark the first day of Hanukkah and attendees sang prayers. Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the Muslims Against Antisemitism charity, told attendees he was \u201chonoured\u201d to stand with the Jewish community.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to come and speak in solidarity with you because the threats against you continue to rise, and it\u2019s important that people like me make it clear that Islamist extremism, the hatred against you from small but entrenched parts of my communities, need challenging. The sense of intimidation you have to live through is appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n New South Wales Police have declared the Bondi Beach shooting a terrorist incident, but the gunmen\u2019s motive has not been officially confirmed.<\/p>\n Attendees at the vigil cheered for a \u201chero\u201d who was filmed tackling a gunman and grabbing his gun during the attack. Mr Mughal said: “There was a member of the Muslim community, Ahmed al Ahmed, who risked his life.”<\/p>\n Mr al Ahmed, a father-of-two, has been named by relatives as the man fighting the terrorist in a video shared widely on social media. His family said Mr Ahmed, from the Sutherland area of Sydney, remains in hospital where he has undergone surgery for bullet wounds to his arm and hand.<\/p>\n Author and social media content creator Dov Forman, also speaking at the event, condemned a “pattern” of terrorist attacks against the Jewish community coinciding with Jewish religious festivals. “This has become a grim pattern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_01KCEZ9HCBJYKQ8AA416JFN28G.jpg\")
A rabbi lights a menorah during the vigil(Image: James Manning\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_01KCEXCQA4AXNDJNH425X4PBYH.jpg\")
The first day of Hanukkah was marred by tragedy(Image: James Manning\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n