'Belfast woman among those fleeing Bondi massacre' says Ulster Jewish figure as Sammy Wilson laments that 'atmosphere has been created where it is okay to bate Jews'
One of the leaders of the Belfast Jewish Community has said that a Belfast woman was among those who fled the murder spree on Bondi Beach.
Meanwhile DUP MP Sammy Wilson, who recently embarked on a trip to Israel, said that the massacre is a product of an atmosphere in which “it’s okay to bate Jews”.
They were speaking after the death toll from Sunday's gun attack in the east of Sydney rose to at least 15 today, plus one of the killers (the other gunman was wounded).
The two men, understood to have been father and son, opened fire on a gathering at a park beside the beach to mark the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
It is reported that the victims ranged from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Michael Black is the deputy chairman of the Belfast Jewish Community, a group comprising about 50-plus orthodox worshippers at the synagogue in the north of the city.
He told the News Letter tonight that a Belfast woman was among those present at the time of the shooting spree.
He said: “One of our congregants, her daughter who lives in Sydney knows one of the people who was killed.
"Also, one of our congregants here, her daughter was actually on the beach at the time of the shooting. She had to run for her life.”
He added: "Apparently when they were running they were trying to get into people’s houses to hide.
"Quite a few of the doors, people had locked, but… there was one particular house where the owner had opened the door and they piled in – I think there was 30-odd people in that particular house, all hiding.”
Mr Black did not give the name of the woman who escaped, but said she is in her mid-20s.
He said that the massacre was shocking but “not a great surprise”, because in the last year or so there has been “so much hate out there” and some extremists would take it as “a green light for martyrdom”.
“It’s something we’re all going to have to live with for a while,” he added.
Mr Wilson, an outspoken defender of Israel, went on a six-day trip to the country in October alongside other unionist politicians.
He told the News Letter: “Whether it's Bondi Beach or whether it was the synagogue in Manchester, all this is brought about by the general anti-Semitic atmosphere which has been generated by pro-Palestinian marches, Muslims allowed to sound off – get away with murder, practically – and that builds up this atmosphere where Jews are good targets.”
He said “the general atmosphere is it's okay to bate Jews”, adding: “The answer is not to simply say: ‘oh, let’s give more protection at Jewish schools or Jewish synagogues, or whatever’.
"The answer is to, first of all, stop creating the conditions that allow these people think that they're justified what to do.”
Mr Wilson also said that the massacre “does show as well that you can't treat all Muslims alike, because apparently the man who took on a gunman was a Muslim himself, and he risked his life to save the people who were being shot at” (a reference to Syrian refugee Ahmed al Ahmed, who was wounded after grappling with one of the shooters).
Meanwhile deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly said today: “I think that there is antisemitism here in Northern Ireland, across Ireland, in the UK – we’ve seen many examples of that in recent years.
“It’s something that has to be absolutely stamped out. We need very, very strong leadership on this...
“We need to step up. All of the political parties here – all of the MLAs, MPs – must make very clear that there’s no case whatsoever for antisemitism.
“People need to be watching what they say and how they say that.”