Christmas fireworks falsely blamed on ‘Islamists’ after Bondi Beach shooting

SYDNEY – Australian social media users accused “Islamists” of celebrating the

Bondi Beach mass shooting

at a Sydney suburb, sharing a video of fireworks going off, which officials said was in fact for Christmas celebrations.

The footage is among several threads of misinformation that have emerged online in the aftermath of a shooting on Dec 14 at Australia’s most famous surf beach, which the authorities have labelled as an anti-Semitic terrorist attack on a Jewish festival.

The gunmen targeted an annual celebration that drew more than 1,000 people to the beach to mark the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the authorities said,

killing 15 people and wounding 42

.

A video soon circulated showing fireworks going off into the night sky, and by the morning of Dec 15 had spread to India, Britain and the US.

“(The people) we have let into our country are now setting off fireworks in Bankstown, celebrating the Bondi Massacre of our Jewish citizens,” said one Australian-based user, referring to a south-western Sydney suburb.

Deploying dehumanising language in an post on social media platform X that was reposted over 750 times, the user also asked: “Why aren’t the Police arresting (them)?”

Others on Facebook claimed the video showed “Islamists setting off fireworks in Sydney to celebrate the terrorist attack against the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach”.

But while there were indeed fireworks on the evening of Dec 14 around Canterbury Bankstown – the name of the area comprising several suburbs – a local community organisation said the display was for Christmas celebrations.

“The fireworks were part of our annual Christmas Carols event, this event and the fireworks display were planned months in advance,” said the Rotary Club of Padstow, a suburb adjacent to Bankstown.

“They were not in any way related to the terrorist attack at Bondi,” the Rotary Club said, adding that the colourful display happens yearly.

The south-western suburb of Bankstown is one of Sydney’s most culturally diverse areas, with its website touting that it has residents of more than 120 nationalities – though it is increasingly the target of anti-immigration rhetoric.

But the posts sharing the footage also drew responses from people within the community confirming that it was a local Christmas carols event.

“Purposefully sharing misinformation to spark hate is disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourself,” said one X user from neighbouring Belmore suburb. AFP