ADELAIDE, Australia — The victims of the massacre on Bondi Beach in Sydney were commemorated at one of Australia's most iconic sporting venues on Wednesday before the start of the third Ashes cricket Test match between hosts Australia and historic rival England.
Some 56,000 spectators rose from their seats and stood in a moment of total silence at the Adelaide Oval where the Australian and English flags flew at half mast, with the players and officials bowing their heads in the bright summer sunshine in honor of the 15 men, women and children who were killed by two ISIS-inspired terrorists in the shooting attack in Australia's largest city situated some 1,400 km. to the east. Some 40 others suffered varying degrees of gunshot wounds in the attack.
Twenty-four-year-old Naveed Akram and his 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram, were filmed carrying out the shooting at a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony attended by hundreds on Sunday.
"After the tragic events at Bondi Beach last Sunday evening, we come together as nations to pay our respects to all those who lost their lives and offer our condolences to their families, their friends, and to the Jewish community. We also acknowledge those who bravely offered assistance to others at the scene," the stadium announcer said as he called for the spectators in the packed stadium to rise to their feet.
Teams honor victims with black armbands
Both teams wore black armbands as a mark of respect throughout the day's play and stood in complete silence.
The words that reverberated around the Adelaide Oval came as one of the latest attempts in Australia to highlight the plight of the Jewish community and appeared to address criticism of the left-wing federal government of Anthony Albanese that has come under attack by local Jewish leaders and opposition politicians for failing to combat antisemitism and allowing anti-Jewish hate speech to fester.
Following the attack, Australia's state and federal governments are set to consider changing gun laws, according to reports.