Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday promised a crackdown on hate speech in the wake of an attack on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, as the youngest of 15 victims was laid to rest.
Yellow toy bees topped the coffin of 10-year-old Matilda, who was remembered as a “ray of sunshine” who loved animals and dancing.
Matilda’s middle name was Bee, which inspired attendees to wear bee stickers, and bring bee-themed toys and balloons, while some mourners wore yellow. Matilda’s family has asked the media not to use their surname.
Photo: AP
“The tragic, so totally cruel, unfathomable murder of young Matilda is something to all of us as if our own daughter was taken from us,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman said.
“Matilda grew up like a child would, loving what children love. She loved the outdoors, animals. She went to school, she had friends, everybody loved her,” he said.
The alleged father-and-son gunmen on Sunday opened fire as hundreds of people celebrated Hanukkah on Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach. The attack, which shocked the nation and led to fears over rising anti-Semitism, appears to have been inspired by the Islamic State, authorities said.
The line outside the hall where Matilda’s funeral was held in Sydney’s eastern suburbs snaked down the street. Many mourners who could not get in watched the service on a screen outside the building.
Some were angry at the government, saying it had not done enough to combat a rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the war in Gaza.
“It’s like your heart’s been ripped out. It’s terrible ... no one wants this,” Jae Glover, 25, said, as he handed out bee stickers. “It’s a feeling, it could have been avoided. Anti-Semitism has now been brewing in Australia for over two years.”
As Matilda’s small white coffin was carried to a hearse at the end of the funeral, people crowded around to say their final goodbyes.
“As the coffin was driving away, I was just whispering: ‘I’m so sorry, my baby. I’m so sorry, my baby,’ because I have five babies. We failed this baby,” Chana Friedman, 37, said.
Elena Marguleva said the service was “heartbreaking and devastating,” and that she had not been eating or sleeping since the attack. “I can’t come to terms with how this could possibly happen.”
Albanese said the government would seek to introduce legislation that makes it easier to charge people promoting hate speech and violence.
Penalties would be increased, canceling or refusing visas would be made easier, and a regime for targeting organizations whose leaders engage in hate speech would be developed, he said.
“Australians are shocked and angry. I am angry. It is clear we need to do more to combat this evil scourge much more,” Albanese told a news conference announcing the reforms.
Albanese’s government has said it has consistently denounced anti-Semitism over the past two years.
It passed legislation to criminalize hate speech and in August it expelled the Iranian ambassador after accusing Tehran of directing two anti-Semitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
A 19-year-old Sydney man was charged and was yesterday to face court after allegedly threatening violence toward a Jewish person on a flight from Bali to Sydney on Wednesday.
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