Mourners grieve for 10-year-old killed in Bondi mass shooting as Australian leader pledges new hate laws: NPR

SYDNEY – Hundreds of mourners carrying bright bouquets and clinging to each other mourned gathered at a funeral in Sydney on Thursday for a 10-year-old girl who was shot dead in an anti-Semitic massacre during a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.

Matilda, whose last name is being withheld at her family’s request, was enjoying a petting zoo at festivities on Sunday before she was killed along with 14 other people in a mass shooting targeting Jews. Australian authorities said that the suspects, a father and son, were inspired by ISIS ideas.

Stunning images of Matilda have become a focal point of Australia’s grief over one of the country’s worst ever hate-fueled attacks. The massacre sparked a national reckoning over anti-Semitism and raised questions about whether the country’s leaders were taking seriously enough the threat to Australian Jews.

Matilda’s parents, who arrived in Australia from Ukraine, “moved away from war-torn Eastern Europe to come here for the good life,” Rabbi Dovid Slavin told The Associated Press as he entered the service.

“They did something it’s okay for a parent to do, they took their child to a family event at Bondi Beach,” he added. “If it ends up this way, it will be the collective responsibility of every adult in this country.”

Albanese pledges new hate laws

Speaking to reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra, at the same time as the Matilda Mass, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed a set of legislative plans that he said would curb extremism and hatred.

Among his proposals were measures to expand the definition of hate speech crimes for preachers and leaders who promote violence, toughen penalties for such crimes, classify some groups as hate speech, and allow judges to consider hate as an aggravating factor in cases of online threats and harassment.

Albanese added that officials will have greater powers to refuse or cancel visas “to those who spread hatred and division in this country, or will do so if they are allowed to come here.” He did not suggest a timetable for the reforms, citing their legal complexity.

“There were organizations that any Australian could look at and say their behaviour, their philosophy and what they’re trying to do is divisive and they have no place in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters.

“Yet, for a generation, no government has been able to take successful action against them because they have fallen below the legal threshold.”

The announcement came on the heels of Albanese’s pledge to tighten gun restrictions in Australia, which are already among the strictest in the world. State leaders have also promised additional initiatives on firearms and stricter rules for protest gatherings.

However, the fact that Albanese has not attended any of the victims’ funerals so far – with local media reporting that he was not invited, despite the presence of other political leaders – indicates anger among some Australian Jews towards the leader.

Albanese said actions his government has already taken, including a ban on Nazi salutes in February, show he takes the threat of anti-Semitism seriously.

“I of course acknowledge that more could have been done and I accept my responsibility for that as Prime Minister of Australia,” Albanese said on Thursday. “But what I also do is accept my responsibility to lead and unite the nation.”

An investigation is being opened into the suspected shooters

Meanwhile, investigators continued to investigate the suspected gunmen’s links in Australia and their travel to the Philippines before the attack, said Chrissie Barrett, the country’s police chief. Authorities previously revealed that the younger suspect, Naveed Akram, 24, was investigated for six months by Australian security services in 2019.

The older shooter, Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead on Sunday, had legally collected the weapons used in the massacre. He was granted a weapons license in 2023, after his son caught the attention of the authorities.

Philippine National Security Advisor Eduardo Año told The Associated Press on Thursday that there was no indication that the two received any training for the attack in the Philippines. He said the suspected militants stayed at a budget hotel in downtown Davao City for the duration of their visit in November.

“The duration of their stay would not have allowed for any meaningful or organized training,” Año, the former army chief of staff, said in a statement.

Naveed Akram is receiving treatment in a Sydney hospital, and was charged on Wednesday with 59 charges, including murder and committing a terrorist act. He entered no plea and the judge suppressed many details of the case against him.

Health authorities said on Thursday that another 16 people were being treated in hospitals across Sydney. Two of them are in critical condition, and one of them deteriorated to critical condition that morning.

Mourners attend funeral after funeral

As the investigation unfolded, Sydney’s tight-knit Jewish community made its way to funeral after funeral. In addition to the funeral of the youngest person killed, Matilda, on Thursday, mourners attended the funeral of the oldest, Alex Kleitman, 87.

She told reporters outside a hospital this week that the Holocaust survivor was protecting his wife when he was shot. Other dead included rabbis, a man who was shot while throwing bricks at one of the gunmen, and a couple who were killed when they tried to confront one of the shooters as he got out of his car to begin the attack.

At Matilda’s funeral, a rabbi read tributes from teachers at the 10-year-old’s school, who described her as “our little ray of sunshine.”

Matilda, who was thrilled to win a national literacy award two days before her death, “had an amazing gift for bringing joy to those around her,” her school’s tribute said.

Sadness overflowed as the coffin was taken out of the hall. Around the mourners, bumblebee balloons wafted in the afternoon breeze, a nod to her family’s nickname, Matilda Bee.

Mourners and journalists alike were handed posters depicting a smiling cartoon bee holding a menorah. Above the picture was Matilda’s name printed in purple, her favorite colour.

“I don’t want to sound selfish,” Slavin said. “But I and many others believe it could be my child.”