‘A scourge’: PM condemns antisemitic graffiti

Another car has been targeted in an antisemitic attack in Sydney's east. Photo: Facebook
Australians do not believe in targeting people because of who they are, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says in condemnation of the latest round of antisemitic graffiti.
“F— the Jews” was painted on a white Volkswagen parked in Queens Park, in Sydney’s east, overnight on Sunday.
It is the latest in a string of similar attacks across the city. Other antisemitic slogans were sprayed on buildings and footpaths in nearby Woollahra, as well as “cancel Islam” on an advertising board in the western Sydney suburb of Sefton, in December.
Albanese said on Monday there was no tolerance for antisemitism, labelling it a “scourge”.
“Targeting people because of who they are is not the Australian values that I hold dear, and the Australian values that are held dear by, overwhelmingly, Australians,” he said.
The December graffiti in Sydney’s east came shortly after the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s south-east was firebombed, prompting federal police to set up a special operation investigating threats towards the Jewish community and parliamentarians.
NSW Police are investigating the latest graffiti, which is believed to have been sprayed between 7am Sunday and 5.45am Monday. They have appealed for anyone with information to contact authorities.
The car’s owner, Stuart Veron, who is not Jewish, described the graffiti as “madness” and “disgusting”.
“[My neighbours would] be disgusted, there’s no place for that in this community or anywhere in Australia,” he told the ABC.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said whoever sprayed the graffiti should face the full force of the law.
“It is unacceptable that Jewish Australians and Australians of all backgrounds have had to wake up yet again and see messages of hate prominently displayed in their neighbourhood,” he said.
High-visibility patrols and community engagement were being conducted, with additional police assigned to combat a rise in deeply alarming antisemitic incidents, NSW Premier Chris Minns said.
“The NSW government is committed to blunting this appalling increase in hateful and violent acts against the Jewish community,” he said.
“We are sending the message that this is not only intolerable – it is an outrage.
“Jewish people expect and deserve to feel safe in their own city.”
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called the graffiti a “vile act”.
“It strikes at the heart of the inclusive and multicultural society we cherish in NSW,” he said.
Hate speech and intimidation is on the rise in Australia triggered by the war in Gaza.
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman in December said antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism against Arabs and Palestinians had dramatically increased.
He has called for a society-wide response to address the structural problems he says are allowing racism.
-AAP