Photo: 9 News Australia // YouTube
As Sydney reels from a horrific mass shooting that took place in Bondi last weekend, the surfing community has stepped up to do its part. On Friday, Sydney residents gathered to watch as hundreds of Bondi surfers held a ceremonial paddle-out to pay tribute to the victims.
On Sunday, hundreds were gathered on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach for the Chanukah by the Sea event, celebrating the first day of the Jewish holiday, when two men armed with long-barreled guns opened fire on the crowd from a footbridge leading to the beach. By the time the attackers were subdued (one of them disarmed by a civilian), at least 16 were dead and 40 wounded.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of antisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location, Bondi Beach, that is associated with joy, associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday.
As The Guardian reports, the beach reopened to the public on Thursday, once police wrapped up the forensic examination of the scene. Just a day later, surfers, paddleboarders, and swimmers gathered off the Bondi shore to hold a ceremonial paddle-out in honor of the victims, as thousands more looked on.
“Just looking at the faces as they came out of the water, watching those scenes of thousands of people in that circle having their moments of silence and then just the splashing, the screaming. It was incredible,” Bondi paddle-out organizer David Solsky told Today. “I don’t think we could have, I don’t think we’d ever imagined anything of this magnitude.”
