Muslim man hailed as hero after wrestling Bondi attacker with his bare hands
When two men opened fire on crowds gathered Sunday to celebrate Hanukkah on Bondi Beach in Australia, one man stepped in to stop it. Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, took on one of the shooters and wrestled him to the ground, preventing the death of potentially many more people.
The world watched in horror as the massacre unfolded, all caught on film. Yet along with the indiscriminate murder of Jewish men, women and children, the remarkable courage of a Muslim man to save lives has also been documented for all to see. Now the footage has been verified, and the man has been identified as a local father of two young girls who runs a fruit shop.
His parents told ABC News that their son was having coffee with a friend in Bondi when he heard gunshots, and went to intervene.
"When he did what he did, he wasn't thinking about the background of the people he's saving, the people dying in the street," his father said.
Video footage shows Ahmed going unarmed to approach the terrorist who was crouched under a tree, aiming at the crowd with a long barrelled gun. He wrestled the shooter to the ground and managed to take the weapon, preventing more deaths.
Along with the outpouring of condolences for the victims, social media was flooded with praise for Ahmed.
“One hundred percent a hero. Once we saw on social media, he’s 100% a hero,” his cousin Mustafa al-Ahmed told Australia’s 7NEWS on Sunday night.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Ahmed was injured during the struggle. He was shot several times in the arm and shoulder, according to his family members.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described Ahmed’s courageous actions as “the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen,” according to Sky News. "That man is a genuine hero, and I've got no doubt there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery."
U.S. President Donald Trump also called Ahmed a “very, very brave person,” saying he saved a lot of lives. Speaking at a Christmas reception at the White House, the U.S. president said that Ahmed was now in the hospital, seriously wounded after tackling the terrorist. “Great respect to that man,” he added.
Mansur Ashkar, an Israeli Druze Arabic speaker, shared his thoughts as he took in the events: “It’s easy to hate,” he began. “When I read all the comments coming from Syria, from Lebanon, from Europe, by Muslims, celebrating, praising the death, the murder, the terror. But at the same time, I witnessed a man, a Muslim man, risking everything,” said Ashkar, “running, charging at the terrorist with bare hands, risking his life. He jumped on him, he fought with him, and he took the weapon out of his hand, and he saved countless Jewish lives.”
“I'm standing here with mixed feelings,” Ashkar admitted. “He didn't need to do that. He's a father … he went and he risked everything he got injured in the process to save lives.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised those who had “run towards danger in order to help others,” most notably Ahmed. “These Australians are heroes, and their bravery has saved lives,” he said at a press conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed his appreciation, saying, “We saw an action of a brave man – turns out a brave Muslim man, and I salute him — that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews.”
However, while praising the specific actions of Ahmed, Netanyahu was critical of Albanese, saying that the Australian government “did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia.”
“You let the disease spread, and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” he said.
The death toll has risen to 16 people killed at the Hanukkah event when Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, fired at the crowd, including a Holocaust survivor and a 10-year-old child. At least another 42 people have been injured.
This article was published at All Israel News
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