Jewish Senate Democrats Statement on Deadly Attack on Sydney’s Jewish Community on First Night of Hanukkah

Washington, D.C. - Today, Jewish members of the Senate Democratic Caucus released the following statement in reaction to the murder of 15 people in Sydney at a menorah lighting on the first night of Hanukkah.

The statement is signed by Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

"The Festival of Lights commemorates and celebrates the resilience of the Jewish people, our identity and heritage. As we moved into the first night of Hanukkah, that tenacity was tested once again as we mourn those murdered in Sydney during a menorah lighting. Our prayers go out to the Jewish community in Australia, whom we embrace in their terrible hour of suffering.

"We are horrified by the brutality of this attack, which comes at a time when Australia has seen a terrible rise in antisemitism. The disturbing wave of antisemitism around the globe has struck anxiety and fear into the hearts of every Jewish community. Some have faced harassment, vandalism, and discrimination. Others, violence as brutal as what we saw yesterday in Sydney.

"This attack is the latest reminder of the work that remains to end the scourge of hatred towards Jews. To combat this disease of antisemitism, we must summon the strength to take action against this ancient hatred, and the courage to press on in the face of such violence against Jewish people at home and abroad.

"We must speak out against all discrimination, from heinous acts like today to the normalization of antisemitic rhetoric, and the attempts to blur the line between political disagreement and antisemitic hate. And we give thanks to the bravery of people like Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner, who risked his own life on Bondi Beach to stop others from losing theirs.

"May the memory of those we lost be a blessing, and may courage flow through the hearts of every Jewish family that lit their first candle last night and over the next seven nights."

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