By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
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INTERNATIONAL
There were these developments in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 Chanukah massacre at Sydney, Australia’s Bondi Beach, at which 15 celebrants were slain along with one terrorist.
–Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference that the alleged terrorists Pakistani-born Sajid Akram and his son Australian-born Naveed were motivated by Islamic State theology. “Radical perversion of Islam is absolutely a problem,” Albanese said. (Sajid was killed in the attack and Naveed was wounded.)
–Two of the previously unidentified fatalities are husband and wife Boris and Sofia Gurman, who were killed when they tried to disarm one of the shooters. Retirees Boris, 69, and Sofia, 61, were the first to be fatally wounded after trying to wrestle the weapons from the terrorists who had just emerged from their car.
—Edith Brutman was identified as another victim; Tibor Weitzen, 78, who had immigrated to Australia from Israel, was yet another.
–Slovakia’s President Peter Pellegrini announced that Slovak native Marika Pogany, 82, was yet another victim. In Australia, she had been recognized for delivering more than 12,000 kosher “Meals on Wheels” since before the turn of the millennium.
–The murdered 10-year-old girl previously identified as Matilda Poltavchenko is the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants Valentyna and Michael. She was reported to have been fatally shot while running toward her father to hide with him.
–Ahmed El-Ahmed, a Syrian immigrant who was successful temporarily disarming one of the terrorists, was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign initiated by American hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. By Monday evening, the fund had surpassed $1.3 million for El-Ahmed, who was wounded in the arm and the hand.
–Fifty meters away at an event hall, guests celebrated a bar mitzvah, at first unaware of the shooting nearby. Sarah Vanunu, an Israeli representative of Keren Kayemeth-Jewish National Fund and mother of the bar mitzvah boy, reported in ejewishphilanthropy that upon seeing people running and screaming, “some of the children at the party fled with the crowd; others stayed inside, following our instructions. We locked ourselves in the event hall for nearly two and a half hours. Crying children, panicked parents and absolute chaos met us in a room full of 12-year-olds experiencing, for the first time in their lives, what real existential fear feels like. And amid all of this, there is one image I will never forget. The people who fled the beach — complete strangers, families, including Muslim men and women wearing hijabs — came into our bar mitzvah hall seeking shelter from the horrors outside. Some of them didn’t know what a bar mitzvah was, but they did recognize the falafel and hummus we had at the venue. So, we invited them to sit and eat with us. For a brief moment, humanity prevailed over everything else.”
–Israeli rehabilitation psychologist Amichai Ben Ari, who specializes in acute trauma at Hadassah Medical Center, conducted a webinar with Australian Jewish therapists on how to treat people who were traumatized by the Chanukah massacre.
–Actress Noa Tishby, Israel’s former special envoy for combating antisemitism, told CBS This Morning that she used to live in Sydney’s Bondi Beach neighborhood. “The intifada being globalized means open season on Jews everywhere.” In Australia, she said, there have been “3,700 antisemitic incidences since October 7th (2023)” and the Albanese government “has done absolutely nothing about it.” She added, “Antisemitism is a shape-shifting conspiracy theory and what it shifted into today is this Israel-related Jewish hatred, Israel-violence, and it is lethal.” She urged allies of the Jewish people to adopt the definition of antisemitism promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
–Comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Sacha Baron Cohen separately posted on social media their condemnations of the shooters. “A massacre at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia is unfortunately not a case of isolated antisemitism. It’s inspired by other acts of violence against Jewish people and designed to inspire more. Let’s instead be inspired by the hero who refused to be a witness. A model for us all.” His message was accompanied by a screenshot of a Times of Israel article about the heroism of Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian who disarmed one of the terrorists. Cohen posted this message: “Hanukkah, 2025, Bondi Beach. It could be your family, your child. No one should die because of their faith. May their memory be a blessing—and a light toward tolerance and peace. #StopTheHate”
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NATIONAL
Editor’s Note: Loureiro item corrected Dec. 19 to show he wasn’t Jewish.
Nuno F. Loureiro, a Portuguese professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), rumored to be Jewish, but ultimately proven not to be, was fatally shot Monday evening at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts and died Tuesday in a Boston hospital. He was 47. Neighbors said they heard multiple gunshots.
MIT’s public relations department identified Loureiro as the director of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center and a professor in the university’s nuclear science and engineering and physics departments.
Law enforcement officials said no suspect had yet been identified.
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Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Tuesday that Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of the slain Hollywood actor and director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner will be charged with their murder. He said, “Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice.”
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The New York Times reported that Harry Shearer, an actor, scriptwriter, as well as a voice talent on The Simpsons, emailed a statement that Reiner’s death was “unspeakable, the stuff of Greek tragedy.” Reiner was “funny, he was smart, he was a mensch.”
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U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Monday “the single most significant thing you could do to eliminate antisemitism” is to reduce immigration to America, Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.
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There is speculation that the shooting at Brown University that killed two students and injured nine others who were studying for their final exam in Principles of Economics. Although she wasn’t in the room at the time, the class is taught by Rachel Friedberg, whose academic interests are economics and Jewish studies. A suspect is unidentified and at large, so a motive is not known.
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Democratic Majority for Israel endorsed 65 Democratic incumbents for reelection, including Jewish Congressmembers Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Lois Frankel of Florida, Laura Friedman of California, Dan Goldman of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Brad Schneider of Illinois, Kim Schrier of Washington, Brad Sherman of California, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. San Diego County Representatives Mike Levin and Juan Vargas also made the list, but Sara Jacobs and Scott Peters were not among the endorsees.
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STATE & LOCAL
Rabbi Ryan Newfield and Board President Gary Abenaim of Ner Tamid Synagogue in Poway have urged congregants to be sure to place their parking placards where they can be seen in their cars. “This is yet another layer of security and is meant to facilitate the screening process of our security guard.” Further, they wrote, “[N]othing will ever hold us back from creating light in this world as the world we cherish must be won by those who seek peace and harmony and not those who want to create war and discord. Let us light our candles with a newly infused bravery and resilience that steers the world in the right direction.”
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San Diego Unified School District Trustee Shana Hazan, speaking in favor of a resolution recognizing December as Disability Awareness Month, said: “Fifty years after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed, the promise our nation made to children with disabilities remains unfulfilled. Every day, we see students’ needs growing while the systems meant to support them are stretched beyond what current funding allows. Disability Awareness Month is more than a recognition — it’s a call to action. If state and federal leaders are serious about supporting children with disabilities, they must finally step up and fully fund special education. Every student, in every school, deserves nothing less than the opportunity to reach their full potential.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World