'Together we will overcome this,' says Winnipeg rabbi in wake of attack on Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration

A Winnipeg-based rabbi says the local Jewish community must stand together in the wake of a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia on Sunday. 

On Sunday, at least 15 people were killed and dozens were injured in a shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach, where hundreds of people had gathered to celebrate the first day of the eight-day Jewish holiday festival.

Australian police said two gunmen carried out the attack on the "Chanukah by the Sea" event, where hundreds of people gathered at one of the world's famous beaches to celebrate the start of the holiday. 

The shooting has been deemed a terrorist attack, according to Australian police, and officials are working to determine if other potential suspects were involved. 

Authorities said one of the suspected gunmen is dead, and another is in critical condition. New South Wales police said the suspects were father and son.

Rabbi Avrohom Altein, the senior rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch at the Jewish Learning Centre in Winnipeg, said the tragedy "should affect every decent person."

He said the news feels like a "raw wound," right now, and the Jewish community in Winnipeg stands in solidarity with the community in Australia. 

"This is precisely the time when we have to stand together, not hide," Altein said. "Together we will be strong and together we will overcome this."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the shooting a "targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith — an act of antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation."

Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "horrified" by the Bondi Beach attack in a Sunday morning post on X. 

"Canada stands with the people of Australia and Jewish people everywhere in sorrow, and determination never to bow to terrorism, violence, hatred and intimidation," he wrote. 

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said "antisemitism has no place in society," in a post on X, calling the shooting "horrifying."

"We stand with the Jewish community, mourn the lives lost, and stand firmly against hate and violence in all its forms," he wrote.

Winnipeg South Centre MP Ben Carr, who is Jewish, told CBC News he plans to attend the first night of Hanukkah celebrations at a local synagogue on Sunday — but the news of the attack has left the community feeling shaken.