Two events planned for later this week on the Sunshine Coast in response to the deadly Bondi terror attack have been cancelled.
Public Chanukah events scheduled for December 18 at Foundation Square in Maroochydore and December 21 at Tickle Park in Coolum will no longer go ahead, following advice from the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies.
It followed Sunday’s attack in which 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl, were killed and a further 42 people were taken to hospital.
Rabbi Oshy Goodman, who leads the Jewish community on the Sunshine Coast, said they were “in shock and very shaken” by the events in Sydney.
Rabbi Goodman’s friend and colleague Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among those killed.
“He had a friend up here who owned a house and he would come up here to spend time in that home. I would join them, a great friendship was formed, with his children as well,” Rabbi Goodman said.
He said the response from the wider Sunshine Coast community had been overwhelming.
“We’ve had so many calls from people showing their solidarity. Some people were crying. It’s unbelievable,” Rabbi Goodman said.
After living on the Sunshine Coast for four years, Rabbi Goodman said he had never experienced antisemitism in the region. But on a national scale, he believes more could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
“There is quite a bit of resentment, and I think not enough has been done to protect the Jewish people here in Australia,” Rabbi Goodman said.
Footage circulating online captured acts of bravery during the attack, including 43-year-old Ahmed Al Ahmed, who risked his life to wrestle the gunman’s weapon away.
“He’s a real hero,” Rabbi Goodman said. “Hats off to him.”
Rabbi Goodman also called for calm, stressing the importance of unity across faiths.
“There’s plenty of Muslims in Sydney or here who would do anything to save anyone regardless of the faith,” he said.
Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the Sunshine Coast community was shocked and saddened by the events that transpired in Sydney.
“We stand together with our Jewish community to say that this kind of violence, this hatred, this display of absolute antisemitism has no place in our society, no place in our Sunshine Coast community,” she said.
An image shared widely online shows Sunshine Coast local Jackson Doolan sprinting barefoot to provide first aid during the attack in Bondi.
“I’m safe and all the lifeguards are safe. Speechless. Well done to everyone involved in helping out,” Mr Doolan shared online.
Mr Doolan relocated from the Sunshine Coast to Sydney in 2016 after securing a full-time role as a Bondi lifesaver, along with a television contract on Bondi Rescue.
Fellow Bondi Rescue lifeguard Andrew Reid took to social media to praise his colleague.
“7pm yesterday in Bondi – lifeguard Jacko running over from Tamarama with medical equipment to back up lifeguards, clubbies, police, ambos and other everyday heroes who tried to save people during yesterday’s horrific attack,” Mr Reid wrote.
“I can’t even begin to imagine what you all had to witness and deal with, but you are all the most incredible people.”
