‘Light will overcome’: Defiant survivor of Bondi attack lights Hanukkah candle in hospital after bullet hit his head
A survivor of the Bondi Beach massacre who narrowly avoided death has managed to get back on his feet to light a candle for Hanukkah.
Arsen Ostrovsky, a prominent human rights lawyer who had warned about ‘Jew hatred’ before the attack on families celebrating the festival, was said to be ‘shattered and exhausted, but defiant’ as he recovers in hospital.
Doctors said it was a ‘miracle’ he survived after he was hit by a bullet fired by one of the two terrorists as he went to protect his wife and children.
‘I immediately ran towards them when I was struck,’ Arsen wrote on X.
‘They were thankfully okay and managed to escape. The bullet grazed me in the head. I lost a lot of blood. Doctors said it was millimetres between life and death and a miracle I made it, but should make full recovery.’
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Arsen, the head of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s (AIJAC) Sydney office, was left bloodied from the wound during the mass shooting at the Hanukkah event in Sydney on Sunday evening.
‘Shattered but defiant’
Friend Tom Gross, an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, told Metro that the survivor had refused to let the terrorists stop him from observing the festival of lights as he recovers from his injury.
‘He’s shattered and exhausted, but defiant,’ Mr Gross said.
‘He shared a photo with his friends of himself lighting a Hanukkah candle today on the second day of Hanukkah, dressed in his hospital robes next to his hospital bed. His message is, Light will overcome darkness!’
Arsen also wrote that he was ‘praying for the recovery of all those injured in yesterday’s Bondi massacre.’
‘What I saw was pure evil’
Arsen, also a correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, had been at the festival with his family, including his wife and young daughters.
They had relocated to his native Australia about two weeks ago from Israel so he could start a new job with the council, which is the leading public affairs organisation for the Australian Jewish community.
‘One of our primary missions is to combat antisemitism, which has seen such an explosive surge in last two years,’ Arsen said.
‘What I saw yesterday was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere. It was like reliving October 7 all over.
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‘Hate will never prevail’
‘I never thought it would be possible here in Australia.
‘But how many times can we warn that allowing this hate and virulent antisemitism against the Jewish community to continue unchecked, excused or mainstreamed, will directly lead to violence, as we saw so gruesomely yesterday? We are long past time for empty condemnations and promises of action. We need urgent leadership, now.
‘At the same time, it was also inspiring to see how many “ordinary” Australians risked their lives to rush to help us and offer comfort.
‘This is the real Australia, not the ravenous hate from the murderers and their enablers. As we light the Chanukah candles, we must reiterate that the forces of darkness and hate will never prevail.’
The AIJAC’s communication manager Dionne Taylor echoed warnings that Arsen made before the attack in an interview with i24 News Israel.
She said: ‘But we have been saying that what will it take for the world to wake up? What will it take for Australia to wake up?
‘What will it take for our politicians to wake up?’
Justin Amler, a policy analyst at the council, also reflected on the importance of continuing to observe the festival.
‘The Jewish community is hurting right now,’ he said.
‘But lighting that first candle last night — and for the next seven nights — is an act of defiance and solidarity, a reminder that our identity will not be erased or suppressed, but proudly celebrated, even in the darkest of times.’
Fifteen people were killed when the gunmen opened fire in one of the deadliest attacks on the Jewish community in Australia’s history.
The terrorists targeted families, including children and grandchildren. who had gathered on the afternoon to celebrate the festival of light.
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