THE SIN OF MISPLACED EMPATHY: Bondi Beach and the shift of victimhood

DISCLAIMER: To test the legitimacy of this article, consider one simple question: since the Bondi Beach attack, which word have you heard more often on media and on Social Media:

• the name Boris Gurman,
• or the phrase “anti‑Semitism”?

My guess would be the latter

On 14 December 2025, on Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, two attackers: a father–son duo, Sajid Akram (50) and Naveed Akram (24) shot and killed 15 people and injured more than 40 others.  The shooting lasted for about six minutes, causing chaos across the beachfront.

Several victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack have been publicly named. Here are the names confirmed so far:

• Matilda (10 years old) – the youngest victim, remembered by her family as joyful and deeply loved.
• Rabbi Eli Schlanger (41) – known as the “Bondi Rabbi,” organiser of the Chanukah by the Sea event, father of five.
• Edith Brutman – vice‑president of the Anti‑Discrimination Committee at B’nai B’rith NSW.
• Boris Gurman (69) – Holocaust survivor.
• Sofia Gurman (61) – wife of Boris, also killed in the attack.
• A retired NSW Police officer – name not yet released publicly.

The names of the victims should have stood at the center of global attention. The headlines should have carried their stories, inviting the world to mourn the loss of innocent lives and to share in the anguish of families torn apart. Yet this was not the case. Instead, a global agenda hijacked the tragedy, shifting the focus away from compassion and turning it into a platform for political gains.

WHEN MOURNING TURNS TO POLITICAL POSITIONING

The attacks at Bondi Beach should have been a moment of collective mourning for the lives lost and the community shattered. Yet what unfolded in the aftermath revealed a troubling inversion: instead of centering on the victims of the massacre, public discourse quickly shifted toward Israel, with outrage focused on anti‑Semitism and the defense of a nation far removed from the immediate tragedy and even further removed from innocence.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s response after the Bondi Beach attack was to frame the attack as part of a wider rise in antisemitism and an attack on Israel.  He accused Australia’s government of fueling hostility toward Jewish communities. He described antisemitism as a “cancer” that spreads when leaders remain silent and warned that Canberra’s policies were “pouring oil on the fire.”

There was no desire to pause and express a deeper anguish for those who actually suffered the consequences of a hate crime.  Only accusations.  Israel was now the victim and the world the enemy.  Neither was there a willingness to consider why there is a growth in antisemitism and why Israel is becoming more hated across the globe.

• Compared to 2022, global antisemitism surged by 340% in just two years, according to a report by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency.

• A major 2025 survey of over 10,000 Jews across continents found that antisemitism is now the top concern for Jewish communities globally, eclipsing all other issues.

Instead of addressing these disturbing trends, Netanyahu’s remarks sadly shifted focus from the immediate victims to a broader political context that fitted his narrative like a glove.  His framing drew criticism for politicizing the tragedy, as many felt the emphasis on Israel overshadowed empathy for the local victims.

What makes this narrative even more profoundly ungodly is that it lends legitimacy to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, where more than 70,000 lives have already been taken. Instead of sincere mourning for those who lost loved ones at Bondi, the tragedy was twisted into a global chorus of “I told you so” from Israel’s defenders—an echo of rhetoric rather than a cry of compassion.

As Christians and followers of “The Father of Compassion and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3) we should be acutely aware that our words and focus after tragedies of this nature should always display empathy, rather than redirecting attention to geopolitical narratives. We should refrain from narratives like those painted by Netanyahu—transforming a local massacre into a platform for political posturing and adopting a victim mentality.

THE SIN OF DISPLACING GRIEF

IT IS A SIN when the grief of others is used to promote personal agendas.  A powerful scripture that speaks directly to this concern is found in Isaiah 10:1–2:

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”

This passage warns against exploiting the suffering of others for selfish gain or political agendas. It reminds us that God’s heart is for justice, compassion, and defending the vulnerable—not twisting their anguish into platforms for power.

The individuals who suffered directly at Bondi Beach were quickly eclipsed in public conversation. Their stories, families, and pain were sidelined for the sake of political positioning.

IT IS ALSO A SIN to use this tragedy to reframe Israel as the victim.

Israel was not the victim of this attack and to insinuate this is to use the suffering of individuals and apply it for nation’s agenda of self‑pity. A strong scripture that speaks to the sin of turning another’s anguish into self‑victimhood is Philippians 2:3–4:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Here Paul warns against self‑centeredness, urging believers to resist the temptation of channeling the anguish of others and weaponizing it to claim victimhood.

IT IS ALSO A SIN to redirect anger from a moral tragedy to a political opportunity.  Instead of outrage at the violence itself, anger was directed toward perceived anti‑Semitism, shifting the moral spotlight away from those who had actually been harmed.

A fitting passage is Amos 5:12, 24:

For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts… But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never‑failing stream!”

This scripture reminds us that when anger is misdirected away from victims, injustice multiplies. God’s call is clear: anger must be transformed into justice for the oppressed, not deflected into agendas that ignore their suffering.

IT IS ALSO A SIN to exploit the anguish of others by draping it in self‑proclaimed prophecies. Too often, so‑called prophets rush to declare that tragedies are signs of the end times, insisting that antisemitism or attacks of this nature are simply “fulfilling scripture.” In doing so, they strip away compassion and replace it with spectacle. Instead of mourning with those who mourn, they turn suffering into a stage for their own authority.

This is not the way of Christ. Scripture warns against those who claim divine words without God’s sending.

 Jeremiah 23:16 – “This is what the Lord Almighty says: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.”

To apply self‑proclaimed prophecies to the tragedies of others is to misuse God’s Word, to redirect grief into self‑promotion, and to deny victims the dignity of true compassion. The call of Christ is clear: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). Anything less—especially turning anguish into a platform for personal agendas—is ungodly and sinful.

It must be clearly understood: the rise in antisemitism is not the fulfilment of scripture, but the consequence of Israel’s own inhumane actions and the ongoing dehumanisation of the Palestinian people. Sympathy for Israel is eroding not because of God’s design, but because of Israel’s conduct.

RECLAIMING THE HUMAN SPIRIT

To resist this displacement, responses to tragedy must:

• Prioritize victims: We need to center our voices on the names, and needs of those directly affected.
• Separate grief from geopolitics: We need to allow space for mourning before importing global narratives.
• Challenge rhetorical scripts: We need to question why certain arguments dominate and whose pain is being ignored. We need to identify agendas and speak out against it
• Cultivate genuine empathy: We need to ensure compassion flows first to those who suffer, not to abstract causes.

CONCLUSION

The Bondi Beach attacks revealed more than violence; they exposed how quickly empathy can be hijacked by global narratives. When Israel became the “victim” in discourse, the actual victims were pushed into the shadows. True justice demands that we resist this inversion—keeping our focus on those who bleed, those who grieve, and those whose lives are torn apart by tragedy.