The daughter of one of the victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting has said he died ‘fighting a terrorist’.
Reuven Morrison, 62, was one of the 15 people killed on Sydney’s Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday.
He was seen in a white shirt bravely pointing out one of the gunmen – suspected to be father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram – opened fire sparking mass panic at the beach event with 2,000 attendees.
Moments after one of the suspects was disarmed by passing fruit vendor Ahmed al Ahmed, Mr Morrison was seen throwing a brick at the gunmen, forcing him to retreat to a position where he was eventually shot dead by police.
Mr Morrison’s daughter, Sheina Gutnick told CBS he died as a hero, throwing a brick at one of the shooters, trying to protect others.
‘If there was one way for him to go on this earth, it would be fighting a terrorist,’ Gutnick said.
‘There was no other way he would be taken for us. He went down fighting, protecting the people he loved the most’
‘I believe after Ahmed managed to get the gun off the terrorist, my father had then gone to try and unjam the gun, to try and attempt shooting. He was screaming at the terrorist,’ she added.
‘My dear father, Reuven Morrison was shot dead for being Jewish at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach while protecting lives, while jumping up, putting his own life at risk to save his fellow Jewish community members.’
She described Mr Morrison, a Soviet-born member of the ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Australia, had ‘absolute immense and endless generosity.’
The terror attack yesterday was one of the deadliest attacks on the Jewish community in the nation’s history.
Details are still emerging on the victims, who had gathered that afternoon with their children and grandchildren to celebrate the festival of light.
The attack has been declared a terrorist incident targeting a celebration in Sydney on the first day of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah, also known as Chanukah, is an eight-day Jewish festival of lights, usually observed in December.
British-born Eli Schlanger, 41, who grew up in Temple Fortune, north London, and was assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi, has been named as one of those killed.
On Monday evening, people gathered in remembrance of those killed at a memorial co-ordinated by the Campaign Against Antisemitism and Chabad UK in Parliament Square, central London.
Speaking at the event, Tory shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson, who is a relative of Mr Schlanger, said he wanted to see people ‘being more muscular in defending the values that make the UK the society we want it to be.’
He added: ‘When marches in London called for Jihad, and the Metropolitan Police told us that Jihad can mean personal development or personal reflection.
‘It might be in a theological seminar, but when shouted on the streets of London, we know what it means – it means an attack on Jews, and so let’s celebrate Hanukkah publicly, proudly as Jews and as members of UK society.’
Labour’s Ashley Dalton was heckled at the event as she pledged solidarity with Jewish people.
The Government minister said: ‘We are here to stand together against the hatred and vitriol from wherever it comes. The Government does not and will not tolerate antisemitism.’
She was interrupted by calls of ‘stop the marches’ and ‘we want action not words’ from some people in the crowd, before continuing after a rabbi stepped on to the stage and called for the listeners to be ‘ambassadors of light’ and allow her to speak.
Speaking to applause, Gideon Falter said ‘celebrating Hanukkah is just an act of celebration, but tonight it feels like an act of defiance.’
He added: ‘Unfortunately, Jews have been warning about the dangers of extremism and radicalism running amok in our country for years and time has run out.’
‘It is time not for thoughts and prayers or words of solidarity, but action from our politicians, action from our Government.’
He also warned ‘people who turn their guns on Jews will turn their guns on everybody else next’.
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