Police pledge after ‘hate crime’ in Sydney’s leafy east
Source: AAP
Police patrols will be stepped up in Jewish communities after a spate of antisemitic attacks across the country.
In the latest ugly incident, graffiti such as “Kill Israiel” (sic) was sprayed on buildings and footpaths in Woollahra, in eastern Sydney, early on Wednesday.
An apparently stolen car the perpetrators drove to the scene was set on fire on Magney Street.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said resources had been boosed as officers followed all leads.
“What happened last night is disgusting and there’s no place for hate of this nature in Sydney or anywhere in Australia,” she said.
“We are taking police and dedicating them to the operation … so police will be out there, the community can expect to see officers that will come up and speak to people.”
Webb said residents of Jewish neighbourhoods across Sydney, including Woollahra, would see increased “high visibility” policing.
Another overnight attack on our community of Woollahra with a car set alight, 7 cars graffitied, buildings vandalised.
Anti semitic slogans.
This breaks my heart. These terrifying attacks on the Jewish community must stop.
The culprits must face the full force of the law.— Kellie Sloane MP – Member for Vaucluse (@kelliesloane) December 10, 2024
The local MP for Vaucluse, which includes Woollahra, Kellie Sloane said the community was in shock and Jewish locals were scared.
“I spoke to a couple of people this morning, a Jewish lady and her daughter, and they were in tears,” Sloane said.
“This is an attack by a couple of cowards who have come into this street in the middle of the night with spray paint and evil intent in their hearts.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns also condemned what he said was a hate crime.
“[It was] a violent act of destruction, clearly antisemitic, designed to strike fear into the community that lives in this part of Sydney,” he said on Wednesday.
Minns said amending legislation to tighten laws for offenders was a possibility.
“Can we do more? I think the answer is yes and I’m not closing the door to changes to the law,” he said.
Minns said the location of the vandalism – in an area of Sydney with a large Jewish population – and how it unfolded pointed to it being an antisemitic attack.
“This is not simply just an act of vandalism on the streets of Sydney. We need to call it out for what it is,” he said.
“Those communities migrated to Australia specifically and precisely to avoid this kind of hatred and division,” he said.
The perpetrators, believed to be two males of slim build, aged between 15 and 20, wore face coverings and dark clothing.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was an “antisemitic attack”.
“This isn’t an attack on a government, this is an attack on people because they happen to be Jewish,” he told ABC radio.
“This is a hate crime, it’s as simple as that.”
Albanese said the vandalism was “abhorrent criminal behaviour”.
“This does not change anything that is occurring on the ground in the Middle East,” he said.
“This is an attack against their fellow Australians.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said acts of hate had no place in Australia and antisemitism was condemned wherever it occurred.
“Australian Jewish communities have a right to be and feel safe,” she said on social media.
The attack came only days after the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east was set alight in a pre-dawn arson on Friday, with several people inside.
Three suspects are being sought over the fire-bombing.
Targeting Australian Jewish communities with violence and vandalism is disgraceful and antisemitic.
We condemn and reject antisemitism wherever it occurs. Acts of hate have no place in Australia.
Australian Jewish communities have a right to be and feel safe.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) December 10, 2024
Australian Federal Police have set up a special operation in response to the “likely” act of terrorism. It will investigate threats, violence and hatred towards the Jewish community and parliamentarians.
It will also investigate Wednesday’s attack, which follows a similar incident in Woollahra in November, when buildings and vehicles were also targeted.
A ute was set on fire, and multiple cars, a restaurant and other buildings were graffitied with anti-Israel messages.
Two men are in custody, charged over that incident.
Police said they did not believe the two Woollahra attacks were linked.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said it 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?”
-with AAP
