The daughter of a victim murdered in the Bondi Beach mass shooting has paid a heartbreaking tribute, stating her father could only have left this world 'fighting a terrorist'.
A Final Act of Bravery
Reuven Morrison, 62, was among the 15 people killed during a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach last Sunday. Eyewitness footage shows Mr Morrison, recognisable in a white shirt, courageously pointing out the attacker, Sajid Akram, as he opened fire on the crowd.
In the chaotic moments after Akram was disarmed by a passing fruit vendor, Ahmed al Ahmed, Mr Morrison was seen picking up a brick and hurling it at the terrorist. This brave act forced Akram to retreat to a position where he was subsequently shot dead by police.
Speaking to CBS, Mr Morrison's daughter, Sheina Gutnick, said her father died as a hero. 'If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist,' she stated. 'There was no other way he would be taken for us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved the most.'
Community in Mourning
She described her father, a Soviet-born member of Australia's ultra-orthodox Jewish community, as a man of 'absolute immense and endless generosity'. The attack, which targeted a festival of light gathering attended by families, is one of the deadliest on the Jewish community in Australia's history.
Among the other victims named is British-born Eli Schlanger, 41, who grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and served as assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi.
In response to the tragedy, a memorial was held in Parliament Square, central London, on Monday evening, coordinated by the Campaign Against Antisemitism and Chabad UK.
Calls for Action in the UK
Speaking at the vigil, Tory shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson, a relative of Mr Schlanger, urged people to be 'more muscular in defending the values that make the UK the society we want it to be.' He criticised the Metropolitan Police's past handling of protests, stating: 'When marches in London called for Jihad, and the Metropolitan Police told us that Jihad can mean personal development... we know what it means – it means an attack on Jews.'
Labour's Ashley Dalton was heckled as she pledged solidarity, with crowd members shouting 'stop the marches' and 'we want action not words'. She was able to continue after a rabbi called for the audience to be 'ambassadors of light'.
Gideon Falter, speaking to applause, said celebrating Hanukkah now felt 'like an act of defiance.' He warned, 'people who turn their guns on Jews will turn their guns on everybody else next,' and called for concrete action from politicians beyond 'thoughts and prayers'.
