MAGA Gets Rude Awakening on Hero at Bondi Beach Shooting
The far-right is claiming that Ahmed al-Ahmed, the bystander who intervened in the deadly, antisemitic mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Australia, this weekend was a Christian—and not a Muslim—to justify their Islamophobia.
“The media keeps saying the man who disarmed the Muslim terrorist in Australia today is also a Muslim who owns a fruit stand,” far-right commentator Laura Loomer wrote Sunday on X. “Credible reports suggest the man is actually a Lebanese or Coptic Christian. Don’t fall for the propaganda.”
“He is a Christian Maronite! The hero that stopped one of the terrorists in Australia is called Ahmad Al Ahmad. The Anti-Israel mobs celebrated him being a Muslim, as if that made the terror attack less terrible,” a large account called “Hamas Atrocities” wrote. “But he is not a Muslim! He is a Christian Maronite!”
“The hero who disarmed the T*rrorist in Australia is a Christian. NOT a muslim,” said another account.
This was debunked quickly. In reality, al-Ahmed—who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen in a shocking act of heroism—is a Muslim immigrant from Syria who owns a fruit shop, as confirmed by The Jerusalem Post and al-Ahmed’s family.
“He’s been here since 2006, and he’s an Australian citizen.... My son is a hero. He served with the police and the central security forces,” al-Ahmed’s father told an Australian news broadcast. “His conscience and his soul compelled him to pounce on one of the terrorists and rid him of his weapon.”
The 43-year-old father of two was shot twice after disarming one of the shooters and is currently in the hospital recovering.
