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Two heroes of the Hanukkah massacre in Australia · The Daily Article

• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's Tuesday, December 16th, 2025.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Denison forums, daily article podcast.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Chris Elkins, new rating today's daily article, written by Cultural Theologian Dr. Jim Denison.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: quote, Ahmed was driven by his sentiment, conscience, and humanity.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is how the father of a quote unquote hero who responded to the Hanukkah massacre in Australia explained his sense actions.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ahmed, Ahmed's father, told the BBC that his son, quote, saw the victims, the blood, women and children lying on the street.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then acted, in quote, video shows Ahmed running at the gunman, seizing his weapon, turning the gun around on him and forcing his retreat.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Ahmed was then shot multiple times and has undergone surgery for his wounds.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: New South Wales Premier, Chris Menz, said of Ahmed, his incredible bravery, no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.
• 1:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Benz added, there is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for a med-selfless courage."
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: In quote, President Trump agreed, calling Ahmed a very, very brave person who saved a lot of lives.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ironically, the people saved by Amed's courage will likely go the rest of their lives without knowing it, unless they could somehow know what the shooter would have done, apart from Amed's intervention, they cannot know that they would have been injured or killed if he had not acted with such selfless courage.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: By contrast, Larisa Claytonman will go the rest of her life, knowing that she was spared by the selfless courage of her husband.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Alex Clayton was a Holocaust survivor.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: He and his wife of five decades were visiting Sidney's Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah when the shooting erupted and he was shot to death as he shielded his wife.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: She said,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: I think he was shot because he raised himself up to protect me.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: If you're not Jewish, you may be thinking that such heroism, while obviously commendable, is less than relevant to you personally.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The rise of anti-Semitism in Australia, while horrific and tragic, can't feel remote to non-Jews in America.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: But know this.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: To an Islamist, every person who lives in a nation perceived to support Israel is a potential
• 2:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: As I explained in my book, Radical Islam, what you need to know, and on our website, links to both are in today's podcast episode notes.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: She hottest belief that the West has been attacking Islam since the Crusades, and especially by supporting Israel, a nation seen as, quote-unquote, stealing its land from its rightful Palestinian owners.
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: They also believe that because the West is comprised of democracies where the people elect their leaders and support their military, we are all complicit in this quote-unquote attack on Islam.
• 3:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Since the Quran requires Muslims to defend Islam,
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: referenced in the Quran's Surah 2 verse 190, Gihadists believe they are required to attack those in the West in order to defend the Muslim faith in people.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: As a result, what happened in Israel on October 7th and in Australia on December 14th could happen where you and I live today.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: This year, began with Gehotis terrorism when an attacker displaying an Islamic state flag ramped his vehicle into a crowd in New Orleans last New Year's day, killing at least 15 people.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is ending on the same tragic theme illustrated by these recent events.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: First,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Three Moroccans and Egyptian and Assyrian were detained last Friday over a plan to drive a vehicle into people at a Christmas market in Germany.
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Authorities suspect an Islamist motive behind the plot.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Second, the shooter who ambushed U.S. and Syrian troops last Saturday, killing two American soldiers and one civilian working as an interpreter,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: is believed to have been an Islamic state infiltrator working as part of a local security force.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: And lastly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this morning that the gunmen who perpetrated the Hanukkah massacre were, quote,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: motivated by Islamic state ideology.
• 4:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Islamic terrorism is a threat that threatens us all.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Responding to this burgeoning danger will require courage.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: You and I may not be required to attack an attacker to rest their rifle from them, or shield a loved one and die in their place.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we have platforms of influence, we can use to condemn the scourge of antisemitism rising in our time.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: We can support our Jewish friends with our personal encouragement and engagement.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: We can befriend local Jewish leaders and congregations and encourage our churches and other networks to do the same.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: These are all steps anyone can take who has the character and courage to do so.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: In addition, however, Christians can respond to this threat as no one else can.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: The Apostle Paul described his former life in Galatians 1 verse 13 and referencing 1 Corinthians 15 verse 9, quote,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Specifically, in Acts 9 verses 1 and 2, Paul was, quote, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: When he saw the authority to arrest Christians in Damascus and bring them bound to Jerusalem.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: In this way, being exceedingly enraged against them, noted in Acts 26, verse 11, you King James Version,
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  [SPEAKER_00]: The apostle said in Acts 22 verse 4, I persecuted this way to the death.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: But you know what happened to him on the road to Damascus.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Now we can pray for our Lord to do the same in the hearts of Jihadists around the world.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Such intercession is a response no one else can or will make.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: What Jesus did to transform Saul of Tarsus, he can do to transform any jihadist terrorist anywhere in the world.
• 6:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: He is already appearing to Muslims around the globe, envisions and dreams, sparking a remarkable spiritual awakening in the Islamic world.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the noted author and Middle East expert Joel Rosenberg reports, more Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last half century than in the last 14 centuries combined.
• 6:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: My dear friends, Tom and Joana Dyer have documented this movement and experience it regularly in their miraculous ministry.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Find links to their ministry in today's podcast episode notes.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: So the next time we hear about an Islamist attack, let's intercede for the victims of course, but let's also stop to pray for the attacker to come to Christ.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray for Jesus to reveal himself to this person in dreams and through believers.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray for Christians in the Muslim world to use their influence to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit and otherwise manifest the presence of Christ.
• 7:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And let's pray for God to redeem the global crisis of anti-Semitism and jihadist terrorism by bringing millions to faith in His Son.
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: If Jesus could come at Christmas, I believe He can come again into any heart and life.
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  [SPEAKER_00]: Do you agree?