The horrific terrorist attack on predominantly Jewish worshippers attending a religious celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday revealed two stark realities: the tragedy of religiously motivated violence and the courage of Ahmed Al-Ahmed, an unarmed Syrian Muslim immigrant who wrestled a gun from one of the terrorists, saving countless lives despite him being injured. Video of his intervention went viral, with people worldwide hailing him as a hero.

Australian authorities identified the assailants — a father and son associated with Daesh — as responsible for killing 15 people and injuring dozens more. Muslim-majority nations including Saudi Arabia condemned the attack, as did Muslim associations across Australia and New Zealand.

Yet Israeli officials quickly blamed the Australian government for what they characterized as rising antisemitism, pointing to anti-Israel protests held across Australia this year in response to the war in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly linked the Australian government’s recognition of a Palestinian state in September to Sunday’s attack. He has repeatedly blamed anti-Israel protests in Australia and other Western countries for fueling global antisemitism.

It is distressing that Israeli leaders are exploiting this terror attack to deflect attention from the ongoing war crimes in Gaza — an unfolding tragedy claiming Palestinian lives daily. More troubling still, they are using this incident to portray Muslims as enemies of the West.

The irony is profound: a Muslim immigrant risked his life to save Jewish lives, directly contradicting the radical Zionist propaganda that blames Muslims for Western antisemitism.

Al-Ahmed received praise from Australian officials, Jewish leaders worldwide and US President Donald Trump — hardly the narrative Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners hoped would emerge from Bondi Beach.

While antisemitism and Islamophobia have genuinely increased in Western countries since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and the subsequent Gaza war, Israel has deliberately conflated criticism of its policies in the Occupied Territories with antisemitism.

Israel has deliberately conflated criticism of its policies in the Occupied Territories with antisemitism.

Osama Al-Sharif

Many Western governments and officials have accepted this false equivalence. Conservative Western media outlets launched aggressive campaigns against anti-Israel and antiwar protests. The US administration targeted liberal universities that permitted such protests, accusing administrators of stoking antisemitism, threatening to withdraw federal funding and pressuring university presidents to resign or ban demonstrations.

The US has followed Israel’s lead in condemning the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice for investigating Israeli war crimes in Gaza and issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defense minister.

But this equation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism is being challenged not only by renowned jurists and courageous politicians, but also by anti-Zionist Jewish leaders globally. Some have dared suggest that Israeli crimes in Gaza and the West Bank have stirred Western public opinion — including among young Jews.

Netanyahu and his extremist partners are now attempting something more sinister: framing recognition of a Palestinian state and Palestinian rights as inherently antisemitic. Such recognition, anchored in international law and UN resolutions, should never be subject to political opinion.

Regarding the attackers’ association with Daesh: this extremist movement represents neither mainstream Islam nor the vast majority of Muslims. Since its emergence, Muslims have been its primary victims. No Muslim-majority country condones its ideology. Muslim scholars worldwide have condemned its actions. Associating this group with more than 2 billion Muslims worldwide is absurd.

Israel has blamed the entire world for rising antisemitism — a historically European phenomenon with no roots in Islam — yet never once acknowledged that its crimes against Palestinians bear relevant connection.

The Australian authorities are in the early stages of their investigation. Israel’s Mossad is reportedly involved, raising significant questions and concerns about how Israel will frame this incident.

Anti-immigration rhetoric has become a pillar of the far-right populist wave sweeping Europe and the US. Proponents of ultranationalist neoconservative movements have deliberately tarnished immigrants, especially those from Muslim countries.

The Syrian immigrant who saved lives by risking his own to disarm an attacker presents a vastly different image of Muslim immigrants — one the mainstream media rarely covers.

His heroism should temper the racist and xenophobic sentiment raging across Western countries. Sunday’s isolated incident must not be allowed to deflect attention from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010