Reuven Morrison

OsherFeldman

  A message from the daughter of Reuven Morrison who was murdered at the Bondi Beach Chanukah Massacre:  

“My father was murdered. In cold blood. Shot. For being Jewish. He did not cower. He did not lay low. He sprang to action. To fight. He was a man bigger than life itself. No boundary was uncrossable. Impossible was not a word in his mind. He put others before himself. It cost him his life. Ripped from his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and dear grandchildren. Leaving a gaping, heaving wound of sorrow. His love reached far and wide. His impact on the world was quiet, but absolutely immense. A philanthropist with a heart of gold, bigger than his chest. A man with humour and wit. A friend whose loyalty knew no bounds. It is a surreal nightmare from the deepest, darkest depths of hell. A reality far too horrendous for any human mind to process. Devoted to his faith. A loud and proud Jew. He fled the USSR to live as a Jew without fear. To an Australia that welcomed him with open arms. Where he rekindled his faith. Where he built a family, a successful business, and became a quiet philanthropist. A large man of immense kindness, who put the needs of others before his own. Who brought light into every life he touched. And then. Australia did not fail quietly. It failed loudly, repeatedly, and with full knowledge. Its government watched hatred grow and chose to do nothing. They minimised it. They excused it. They dismissed Jewish warnings as noise. A black, monstrous tornado cloud of antisemitic hate rolled in. It marched on bridges. It waved green, black, and red flags. It called for death to the Jews. This was not a shock. This was not sudden. This was not unpredictable. Antisemitism was out in the open. Threats were real. Fear was voiced again and again. And the government did nothing that mattered. Collectively, they abandoned us all, allowing antisemitism to fester. A government that refuses to protect Jews after being warned does not get to claim innocence. A government that lets hate fester holds responsibility for the blood that follows. It has his blood on its hands. The blood of all the victims. To those sheep who mindlessly reposted calls for intifada, you are guilty. To those who adorned themselves in keffiyehs and pro-Pal slogans, you are guilty. My father was murdered because leaders were weak. Because they were lazy. Because they cared more about optics than lives. Do not dare call this a lone act. Do not dare speak of bad luck or bad timing. This was the result of neglect and moral rot at the top. Australia betrayed him. Its government betrayed him. They cleared the way. My father is dead because those in power chose inaction. And that stain will not wash off. You are guilty.”

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Like many Jews in Sydney, his story began in the former Soviet Union.

"Walking around the streets in the USSR we always looked back, we were aware of our environment, and we expected the unexpected," Mr Morrison told the ABC last year.

"It is nothing new to us."

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Mr Morrison, his daughter said, is the man in the widely shared video throwing a brick at gunman Sajid Akram after he was tackled by Sutherland small businessman Ahmed Al Ahmed.

Moments later he was fatally shot.

Ms Gutnick said his selfless act of attempting to place himself in front of others as shots rang out allowed a woman and her baby to flee the scene to safety.