Two gunmen, a father and son, whose names suggest they were Muslim, killed 15 people, mostly Jews, during Hanukkah celebrations on Bondi Beach in Australia. The death toll could have been much higher had it not been for the heroic action of an Australian Muslim man who confronted one of them and disarmed him. Initial investigations indicate that the attackers were influenced by the ideology of the Islamic State (ISIS).
Two homemade ISIS flags were found in the attackers’ vehicle. Little is known about the killers, other than that they had recently traveled to Mindanao in the Philippines, where ISIS is still active. They may have received training and further ideological indoctrination there.
ISIS once controlled vast swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, training those who later became senior leaders. ISIS also sent thousands of young jihadists to carry out hundreds of terrorist attacks in various locations in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. Others, not members of the organization, have also carried out deadly attacks influenced by its ideology. It is not known precisely who is behind ISIS. Experts do not rule out the possibility that powerful regional and global powers have previously exploited ISIS.
Therefore, no religious authority has declared them apostates, and some have merely condemned their actions. After the organization lost its sources of funding due to the loss of territory and cities it controlled, the abandonment of some of its supporters, difficulties in movement, and the cessation of recruitment, its attacks have diminished, particularly in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa.
The New York Times states that the pattern of the recent attack on Bondi Beach is consistent with many ISIS-inspired attacks, which typically involve indiscriminate mass shootings aimed at inflicting the greatest number of casualties, mostly targeting non-Muslims. The organization has long called on its followers to target countries such as Australia, which has previously joined the United States in bombing its positions in Iraq and Syria. The war in Gaza may have contributed to the resurgence of ISIS in returning to its previous terrorist activities.
There is still no concrete evidence linking the attackers to ISIS, other than the presence of the group’s flags in their possession. ISIS is known for not requiring its followers to obtain permission before launching an attack. Rather, attackers are expected to leave evidence or slogans indicating ISIS as the source of inspiration. It is noteworthy that the Syrian government issued a statement saying the perpetrators of the Bondi Beach attack adopt extremist ideology.
ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the attack, and the group’s branch in Afghanistan is still active there. The ISIS affiliate known as the Islamic State in Khorasan carried out an attack on a concert hall in Moscow last year, killing 149 people. The same group was also linked to a foiled attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. The Bondi Beach incident underscores the continued threat posed by ISIS, which is not surprising given that the group’s recruitment and indoctrination efforts continue. This has been highlighted in several previous articles, though reactions have been muted, as evidenced by recent minor changes to school textbooks.
By Ahmad alsarraf e-mail: [email protected]
