The NSW government will “throw everything” behind an investigation into an antisemitic incident overnight as Australia’s peak Jewish body urges the prime minister to ramp up efforts to tackle what it says is a crisis.
Emergency services responded to reports of a vehicle on fire in Woollahra in Sydney’s east at around 1am on Wednesday, with Fire and Rescue NSW extinguishing the blaze.
That vehicle and another, as well as two buildings and a footpath, were graffitied. The graffiti on one of the buildings said ‘Kill Israiel’ (sic). It’s the second attack in the same suburb within weeks.
‘Attempts to divide our city’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns were among those who condemned the attack, labelling it an antisemitic incident.
Minns said attempts to divide Sydney “won’t work” and the offenders would face “the full force of the law”.
He said it was “a violent act of destruction, clearly antisemitic, designed to strike fear into the community that lives in this part of Sydney”.
Police are searching for two people believed to have been in the area at the time. The perpetrators are believed to be two people of slim build, aged between 15 and 20 years, wearing face coverings and dark clothing.
NSW Premier Chris Minns (centre) said the incident was “designed to strike fear into the community”. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Albanese wrote on social media that there was “no place for antisemitism in our community”.
Speaking in Sydney on Wednesday, he said Australia was enriched by multiculturalism including the Jewish community.
“That disgraceful act of burning of a synagogue sent shivers down the spine of all Australians,” he told reporters.
“We’re a tolerant country, we’re a country that is based upon respect for each other.
“The damage to the Torah that has been done is something that is just not what you would expect in a country like Australia,” Albanese said.
‘Full police response is underway’
The incident has been escalated to the Australian Federal Police, who earlier this week.
NSW police commissioner Karen Webb said a “full police response is underway” and that police are conducting an “extensive investigation”.
Earlier, NSW Police and Counter-Terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley pledged the state government would “throw everything we can” behind the investigation.
“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, acts of hatred and violence directed at our Jewish community,” Catley said in a statement.
“There is no place for hatred or antisemitism in our society. Every person has the right to feel safe in their own city, their homes, and their places of worship.”
The incident is the second attack in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra within weeks. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
‘Antisemitism crisis’
The incident comes after the in a pre-dawn attack on Friday while a number of people were inside. Police are treating it as a “likely” act of terrorism.
Speaking outside the synagogue on Wednesday, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the vandalism in Woollahra was designed to terrorise Jewish Australians.
“The Jewish community again wakes to scenes of terror and devastation,” he said.
“How long will this continue, and with what horrors will it end?”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the vandalism in Woollahra was designed to terrorise Jewish Australians Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
Ryvchin said after the attack on the synagogue, his organisation has “appealed to the prime minister with urgent requests” to address what he called an antisemitism crisis.
Albanese visited the synagogue on Tuesday, where he promised to support its rebuild .
He committed his government to provide support to rebuild the synagogue, will provide funding for the restoration of the salvageable scrolls, and the replacement of those that are beyond repair.
The Victorian government announced 15 community organisations would receive $950,000 in security funding.
Grants of up to $200,000 were available to Jewish community organisations to support the purchase, installation or improvement of security equipment at community facilities.
Islamic school bus torched
Meanwhile, a bus belonging to an Islamic school in Adelaide was set alight in suspicious circumstances over the weekend.
Independent senator Fatima Payman has questioned whether there was a double standard over incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia, saying the government had rightly condemned the synagogue attack, “yet there is no outrage” over the bus being torched.
“Two acts of arson, two acts of hate, but two very different responses,” she said in a social media video on Tuesday.
Police in South Australia are investigating but say no evidence has been found to indicate it was racially motivated.
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
