Bondi Massacre
For those of you just discovering my account, or perhaps just getting to know my work, I’m Liz Kreutz, and I have the immense privilege of being a National Correspondent for NBC News, based in Los Angeles. I now spend my days reporting on the stories that define our country, from breaking news events to complex political and social narratives across the Western region.
But my path to this role was not a straight line to the anchor desk.
Like many in this industry, I didn’t start on-air. After graduating from New York University, my journalism career began behind the scenes. I took every opportunity I could, starting as an assistant, then moving through roles as an overnight assignment editor, a production coordinator for special events, and a field producer for ABC News. I learned the news business from the ground up, realizing that it truly takes an incredible team working behind the camera to make a single story possible.
My "big break" the moment I decided to bet on myself, came when I was embedded as a reporter covering the tumultuous 2016 Presidential Election. That experience was a crucible; it solidified my desire to be the person telling the story directly. I was lucky to have incredible mentors who encouraged me, and after the election, I put a reel together. I left the security of New York, took a risk, and accepted a job as an anchor and reporter in Sacramento, and later in San Francisco. It was a leap of faith, but my number one piece of advice to anyone chasing a dream is this: always bet on yourself. That risk ultimately led me to my dream job here at NBC News, where I strive to bring integrity and clarity to every report.
While I maintain a private personal life, focusing on my professional work,my upbringing and experiences across major U.S. cities have instilled in me a deep sense of civic duty. The core motivation for my work is to inform the public, hold power accountable, and foster a better understanding of the human condition.
This is why the topics we cover, especially those involving hatred and division, are not just news stories to me; they are moral imperatives. When our society fragments, when hate begins to define our discourse, it impacts the lives of every family, every neighborhood, and every community.
This brings me to the horrific terror attack that struck the Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14th. The attack by two gunmen was an act of brutal antisemitism. My heart aches for the victims and the Jewish community, who were targeted simply for their identity.
But the most profound lesson from that terrible day was the extraordinary heroism that emerged: the man who bravely confronted and disarmed one of the gunmen, suffering bullet wounds in the process, was Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim man.
This act is a direct, undeniable contradiction to the vile propaganda we must dismantle: the terrible and destructive narrative that all Muslims hate Jewish people. This bigoted ideology fuels division and is simply not true. The heroism of Ahmed al Ahmed, a Muslim man risking his life for a Jewish celebration, is the truth we must champion.
We must get rid of both sides of this hatred. Antisemitism, the oldest hatred, must be condemned and eradicated, and simultaneously, we must aggressively combat Islamophobia. When we allow the criminal actions of two individuals linked to extremist ideology to fuel hatred and suspicion against the entire Muslim community, we are letting the forces of division win.
Antisemitism and Islamophobia are not just moral failures; they are forces actively dividing this country and weakening the fabric of our democracy. My reporting commitment is to shine a light on both, to uphold the bravery of those who stand against hate, and to demand that our systems focus on creating a society where no one is targeted for their faith.
We must confront the ideology that fuels it. And that ideology is antisemitism, a poison so ancient and adaptable that it continues to rot the foundations of our modern, democratic society.
Antisemitism is fundamentally wrong and destructive for several reasons, and understanding these points is crucial to protecting our nation.
Antisemitism is unique among prejudices because, at its core, it is not just bigotry, it is a conspiracy theory . It alleges that Jewish people, collectively, are a secret, powerful, manipulative force controlling global events, finance, media, and government for their own nefarious gain.
This myth, embodied in notorious fabrications like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, is lethal because it frames the Jewish people as the secret cause of all societal failures. It tells people that their problems are not systemic or political, but rather the result of a hidden, all-powerful Jewish cabal. This provides a rationale for violence and even genocide, as seen most horrifically in the Holocaust.
By convincing people that legitimate institutions (like the government or media) are secretly controlled, antisemitism breeds deep distrust in democracy and the rule of law. It makes people believe that their votes don't matter because a hidden "Jewish hand" is pulling the strings. This erosion of faith in foundational institutions is why antisemitism is not just a threat to Jews, but to the entire political health of our country.
As experts and anti-hate groups have tirelessly explained, antisemitism is not a secondary form of hatred; it is often the foundational ideology for white supremacist and far-right extremist movements.
These groups often cast Jewish people as the primary enemy who are supposedly manipulating Black people and other marginalized communities to undermine white social and political dominance. It’s the glue that holds various hateful ideologies together, unifying adherents in their belief that Jews are the master manipulators behind all perceived threats to their version of society.
No Jewish event should be a place where people are running for their lives. The terror witnessed at Bondi Beach is the direct result of a poisoned ideology that, in its most extreme forms, believes Jewish people do not deserve to live in peace.
Who is Behind this Poisoning?
The poisoning of people’s minds is not singular; it is a collaborative, decentralized effort fueled by various actors who exploit existing anxieties.
Groups ranging from white nationalists and neo-Nazis to certain strains of radical religious extremism actively produce and disseminate propaganda that explicitly calls for violence against Jews. These groups continue to circulate debunked myths like the aforementioned Protocols.
Historically, and in some current contexts, hostile foreign governments or regimes have weaponized antisemitic tropes to consolidate power, distract from domestic failures, or undermine Western democracies by sowing internal discord.
The primary accelerator of this poison today is the digital ecosystem. Algorithms on major social media platforms often prioritize engaging, high-emotion content, and hate speech, including antisemitism, is often highly engaging. These platforms have been criticized for their lack of transparency and slow action in moderating and removing content that incites hatred and violence.
This is perhaps the most insidious threat. When influential political, cultural, or media figures use coded language such as referring to opponents as "globalists" or accusing them of controlling the media/finance, they are often unknowingly, or sometimes knowingly, re-activating ancient antisemitic tropes, thus normalizing them for a broader audience.
If we are to heal our democracy, accountability must be systemic and shared:
They must enforce existing laws against hate crimes and incitement to violence vigorously, while also investing in intelligence to disrupt extremist plots before they reach the execution stage.
They must be held accountable for the design of their algorithms that amplify hate speech. We need transparency in their content moderation policies and a commitment to prioritizing human safety over engagement metrics.
We must invest in comprehensive education that teaches the history of antisemitism, the mechanisms of hate, and media literacy to help people identify and reject conspiracy theories.
We all bear responsibility. As demonstrated by the heroism of Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim civilian who stopped the Bondi Beach shooter, standing up to hate is a universal human obligation. We must actively reject all forms of hatred including both antisemitism and Islamophobia and refuse to let bigots divide us.
The only way to ensure that Jewish communities can live in peace is to tear down the ideological foundation that allows their targeting. This fight is a litmus test for the health of our entire democracy.
in the aftermath, we have witnessed a predictable, equally destructive reaction: a wave of Islamophobia, which uses the actions of two extremists to justify hatred against an entire global faith.
Let me be absolutely clear, A person of Muslim faith should not be targeted, harassed, or subjected to prejudice for the actions of two radicalized gunmen. In fact, the heroism of Ahmed al Ahmed, the Muslim civilian who was shot while protecting the Jewish celebration, should open the eyes of every American: Muslim people are just people. They are heroes, neighbors, parents, and patriots who bear no collective guilt for the actions of terrorists.
The idea that Islamophobia is somehow "exaggerated" or a term used merely to stifle criticism is dangerous rhetoric. Islamophobia is a very real, measurable form of prejudice and discrimination that causes genuine harm and impacts the economic, social, and political lives of Muslims in the U.S. and around the world. It is the irrational fear, hatred, or prejudice directed at the religion of Islam or its followers.
Who is at Fault for Manufacturing and Exaggerating Hate?
Islamophobia is not a spontaneous public reaction; it is a manufactured political and media strategy designed to create division and fear. Several powerful actors are primarily at fault for fueling this destructive fire:
For the majority of Americans, their primary exposure to Islam and Muslims is through the news media. This exposure is often heavily skewed.
News reports often disproportionately associate Muslims with negative behaviors, extremism, or terrorism. . This relentless focus on the minority who commit violence creates a false and devastating stereotype: the radical Muslim insurgent. This implies violence is an inseparable part of being Muslim, which is untrue.
When Muslim women are portrayed, they are often reduced to "passive victims" or framed as being oppressed, neglecting the immense diversity and normalcy of Muslim life. This lack of balanced representation makes it easy for the public to perceive Muslims as "the Other" and a "threat to Western culture."
Politicians and public figures who seek to mobilize votes by exploiting fear are a primary engine of Islamophobia.
In times of economic and political instability, populist leaders find it convenient to portray Muslim minorities as a singular, non-belonging group or even a source of invasion. By casting Islam as fundamentally incompatible with "Western values," they create a fearful and receptive audience for anti-Muslim policies.
When elected officials use anti-Muslim rhetoric—such as questioning their patriotism or equating their faith with extremism,it normalizes bigotry and fosters the insidious idea that Muslims are inherently "others" who must constantly prove their loyalty. This kind of political rhetoric shuts down debate and marginalizes Muslims from participating fully in our democracy.
As documented by various research groups, well-funded networks of misinformation experts actively promote Islamophobia in America.
This industry deliberately works to spread biased information to create prejudice and to push for policies that disproportionately target or harm Muslims, often under the guise of counter-terrorism. This creates what some experts call structural Islamophobia, where prejudice is reflected in institutionalized policies and practices, such as excessive surveillance.
The real danger here is that antisemitism and Islamophobia are not two separate battles; they are two sides of the same strategy used by extremists and populists to divide and conquer a multi-ethnic, multi-faith society.
When a terrorist (driven by hate, attacks a Jewish community, it tragically validates the fears of those susceptible to Islamophobia.
When Islamophobia surges, it alienates Muslim communities, which can then be exploited by extremists who claim the West rejects them entirely.
We must end this narrative of division. The solution to one form of hate is not the toleration of another. As a reporter, I am committed to fighting the lie that fuels all prejudice. We must champion the truth embodied by Ahmed al Ahmed: that humanity, courage, and solidarity are what truly define our communities, not hatred.
The time for painting ugly, simplistic pictures of entire communities is over. We must immediately and definitively stop the insidious practice of painting either Jewish people or Muslim people as inherently "bad," "foreign," or responsible for the actions of a hateful few.
The narrative that has poisoned public discourse that Jewish people are secretly manipulative or that Muslim people are inherently predisposed to violence against Jews is a fabricated lie used by extremists on all sides to gain power. .
We must come together on the fundamental principle that our neighbors, regardless of their synagogue, mosque, or church deserve to live in peace and safety. To tolerate the harassment or targeting of Muslims in retaliation for this terror is to commit the very injustice we condemn when it is aimed at the Jewish community.
We must recognize that the fight against antisemitism and the fight against Islamophobia are not separate conflicts; they are two essential fronts in the defense of a pluralistic, democratic society. To defeat hate, we must confront all its forms equally and simultaneously.
The commitment to unity, however, cannot exist in a vacuum. It must be paired with tangible, life-saving policy changes. We cannot simply heal the ideological wounds while leaving the physical means for mass murder easily accessible. We urgently need to reform gun laws in this country.
The horrific escalation of violence we witness from synagogues to schools to beach events, is directly linked to the availability of weapons designed to inflict maximum carnage quickly.
Universal, Mandatory Background Checks: There should be no private sales, no gun show loopholes, and no online transactions without a thorough, uniform check designed to keep weapons out of the hands of violent extremists and those with severe mental health issues.
: We need robust, easy-to-access, and constitutional red flag laws that empower family members or law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed an imminent danger to themselves or others. This is a critical tool for intervention before a crisis becomes a catastrophe.
Limiting High-Capacity Magazines: High-capacity magazines turn a tragic shooting into a massacre. Limiting the amount of ammunition a weapon can hold without reloading is a common-sense measure that gives victims and law enforcement critical time to respond.
We owe the victims of terror more than just empathy; we owe them action. Action to heal the divisions in our society and action to protect our public spaces through responsible, comprehensive gun law reform.
Thank you.
