‘Horror and heroism at Bondi’: what the papers say about the Sydney terrorist attack

The deadly terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, and the heroic acts of bystanders in response to it, were the focus on newspaper front pages across the world on Monday morning, as Australia came to terms with what the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described as “an act of evil antisemitism”.The Guardian led with “At least 16 dead in terror attack on Jewish festival” accompanied by a picture of ambulance crews assisting a shooting victim. In the top left corner, there is a reference to the bystander who wrestled a firearm off one of the alleged gunmen.The Mirror ran a series of photos of the bystander, Ahmed al-Ahmed, tackling one of the alleged gunmen, alongside the headline “Horror and heroism at Bondi”.The i newspaper led with the “The hero of Bondi Beach”. “Hero praised for saving lives,” the paper reported, followed by details of the victims and reaction from the prime minister and a Jewish community in mourning.The London Daily Telegraph ran with a headline “Hate and heroism on Bondi”, with images of al-Ahmed and followed by an opinion piece from Lord Wolfson titled “Jews like me have been warning about an attack such as this for years”, where he argues Jews are the “canary in society’s coal mine”.The Daily Mail praised the courage of al-Ahmed. “Hero of the Bondi Beach massacre,” the paper headlined, and included Donald Trump’s comments that al-Ahmed was a “very brave person”.Under the headline “Bloodbath at Bondi Beach”, the Times ran with a large picture of one of the alleged gunmen, Naveed Akram, and a smaller image of beachgoers fleeing the scene.“The hero of Bondi Beach” led the Daily Express’s coverage, with images of al-Ahmed wrestling the gun from the alleged shooter’s grip.The Sun ran a large headline “Bondi fiends dad & son” under a smaller headline ‘Hero tackled gunman firing at Jewish event’.In the US, the New York Times took in reaction from US-based rabbis reflecting on how to protect their congregations. Its lead opinion piece questioned whether more could have been done to protect Australia’s Jewish community. The Washington Post ran a piece headlined “Hundreds gathered on Bondi Beach for Hannukah. Then it turned into a night of terror.” Its lead opinion piece looked at al-Ahmed’s actions, saying “an act of courage exposes cowardice”. The LA Times said the shooting followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that had “roiled the country over the last year”.In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald headlined their front page with “Bondi Terror” against a large image of a police officer and woman in swimwear attending to victims, with the beach and abandoned festival behind them.The Sydney Morning Herald front page on Monday. Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald“You bastards” the Sydney Daily Telegraph’s headline read, accompanied by an image of one of the alleged attackers, with the smaller headline “evil on our shores”.The Sydney Daily Telegraph front page on Monday. Photograph: The Daily TelegraphThe Australian newspaper led with “Massacre of Jews” and ran commentary online from Chris Kenny, the associate editor, arguing “two years of political failure have left us all less safe”.The Australian front page on Monday. Photograph: The Australian