Ahmed al Ahmed, the Hero of Bondi

 

Today's post is about heroes. In particular, one hero. I'm sure everyone who's not actually dead will recognise Ahmed al Ahmed, who pounced on an active shooter and disarmed him at Bondi the other day. Many people are alive now who would not have been, had it not been for his heroic and selfless act, and he is now in hospital, undergoing apparently a number of surgeries after being shot half a dozen times in the course of his noble and courageous deed.

Mr Al Ahmed is an ordinary enough man. A first generation immigrant from Syria, he is a small businessman (he's been described by various news ouutlets as both a fruiterer and a tobacconist, and I do not know which is correct, but really it hardly matters.) He is middle-aged, fat, and balding. In short, a typical Australian. You would pass him in the street without a second glance. And yet. When the chips were down, this ever-so-ordinary man reached into himself and found a well of courage and unselfishness that might well be the envy of princes.

This is my point today. Enough has been said about how shocking and dreadful the massacre was, how nasty antisemitism is, how Mr Netanyahu should STFU, and how ASIO were their usual incompetent selves. We know all these things. But what I want to talk about is the role model.

We are always presenting role models to our children. If we don't explicitly do it, the television does it for us. I'm not sure who it is the media are pushing this week, but no doubt it is some pop singer or other. It is rarely anyone with real substance. And yet, here we see the perfect role model for any child. Because Mr Al Ahmed wasn't special. He isn't especially handsome, or buff, or rich. Just an ordinary man with an ordinary life, a shopkeeper. And yet he has shown himself to be cut from the very finest cloth. Because of his actions.

I'm not saying everyone should start shoving Mr Al Ahmed down the throats of their young. That's not the way, shoving things down people's throats. All it ever does is to give the victim a distaste for the thing being shoved. I think, myself, that's the main reason our churches are so empty today. What I am saying is that we should all take a good hard look at what we ourselves admire and praise. Because that is likely to be what will influence our children. Kids don't listen much to what we tell them. But they are like sponges with what they see us actually doing.