Shock over Jewish museum shooting
Community leaders in Australia have expressed their horror and distress over Saturday’s shooting at a Jewish museum in Brussels, Belgium, which left four people dead.
Belgian police have released footage of the attack as part of their manhunt to catch the perpetrators.
The black-and-white security camera footage from Saturday’s attack shows a man entering the museum’s corridor carrying two bags. Placing them on the ground before the actual entrance to the museum, the man produced a firearm from one of the bags which appears to be an AK-47 assault rifle and fires a burst of shots at people inside while remaining near the entrance to the museum.In the 29-second video, the man, who is wearing a black baseball cap, is seen placing the rifle back inside one of the bags and escaping on foot.
The shots killed two Israel tourists and a French citizen on the spot. A fourth victim, whom the European Jewish Congress’ crisis management center identified as a 23-year-old employee of the museum named Alexandre Sterns, was mortally injured and died on Sunday.
The Israelis who died in the attack were identified by the Israeli foreign ministry as Emanuel and Miriam Riva, a married couple in their fifties from Tel Aviv.
Police asked for the public’s help in identifying the perpetrator, whom witnesses said arrived at the scene in an Audi car that was driven by another man whom police suspect was an accomplice.
Approximately 2,000 people gathered on Sunday outside the museum, which is located 400 yards away from the Great Synagogue of Europe, for a silent demonstration in memory of the dead.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, Belgium that has left three people dead and another seriously wounded”, said Robert Goot, President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
“The Australian Jewish community shares the sorrow, grief and anger caused by this heinous crime and we pray for the strength of the mourners and the souls of the murdered. We wish long life to the families of the victims. May the memories of those who lost their lives be a blessing.”
“This atrocity is not an isolated incident. It comes just weeks after a gunman murdered three people at a Jewish community centre in Kansas and evokes memories of the barbaric murders of three children and a Rabbi at a day school in Toulouse in March 2012.”
“This latest attack further underscores the vulnerability of Jewish people even in advanced, western societies. It reminds us that antisemitism is real and it is deadly.”
“We must understand that such incidents are not spontaneous and do not occur in a vacuum. They are the culmination of a pervasive culture of incitement and hatred towards the Jewish people and Israel, the State of the Jewish people.”
“We call upon our fellow Australians to denounce and stand united against antisemitism and other forms of racism and to work towards a harmonious society based on mutual respect, so that Australia remains free of the worst forms of racial hatred and its devastating consequences.”
Chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation C, Dr Dvir Abramovich said:“This is a dark and sad day for Australian Jews. The ADC is shocked by this barbaric and hatefilled crime. We join in solidarity with the entire Belgian Jewish community and our thoughts and profound sympathy go out to the grieving families of those who lost their loved ones as we pray for the full and speedy recovery of those injured. We trust that the Belgian government will do all that is necessary to protect its Jewish residents as well as apprehend the perpetrators of this abhorrent attack and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. This heartbreaking tragedy, two years after the murderous atrocities of Toulouse and Montauban, reminds us once again that anti-Semitism and violence against Jews in Europe are on the rise and have reached
frighteningly high levels. The vicious campaign against Israel and the Jewish people has created a malicious and dangerous atmosphere of intolerance that threatens the safety of every Jewish community in Europe. The ADC calls on political, communal and religious leaders in Europe to make a concerted effort to confront the scourge of anti-Semitism and to make the fight against this poisonous racism a national priority. As the ADL Global 100 has recently shown, anti- Semitism around the world, including here in Australia, is a growing and daunting problem that requires immediate action on many levels.”