Renewed pressure on governments to address anti-semitism

SBS Australia

13 hours ago

It's been seven months since criminals destroyed a synagogue in Melbourne with an accelerant-fuelled blaze that injured a worshipper. Now, there's been another attack - this time at the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, its front doors burned on a Friday night by a man who allegedly poured a flammable liquid over them and set them alight. It's a place of worship federal Berowra MP Julian Leeser knows well. "I've been - visited that congregation and had Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Dobot Gutnick and his family. It's a synagogue where I went to a wedding last year, a moment of great joy for that community. It's a synagogue that bespeaks the rich and long history of the Jewish people in this country. There's even a prayer for the king there that goes back to Queen Victoria's time in both Hebrew and English." Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door after the fire began, and no-one was injured. But synagogue president Danny Segal and his wife Jenny says it could have ended very differently. DANNY: "Somebody saw smoke and some passersby rung the bell." JENNY: "And we could see something - otherwise we wouldn't have known what was going on." Australian political figures have been unanimous in their denunciation of the incident, including Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece. "These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking and I condemn them in the strongest possible terms." There's also been strong words from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who says it was a cowardly attack. "It is to be hoped that the perpetrator is brought to justice urgently and they faces the full force of the law, and anyone involved in this attack faces the full force of the law." A man has already been arrested over the Melbourne synagogue attack and is now before the courts. The wider concern for the police - and political leaders - is that the alleged arson was not an isolated incident. So says Daniel Aghion, President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. "This is the tenth firebombing that the Australian Jewish community has experienced in the last 12 months." The alleged arson at the Melbourne synagogue was also one of at least four incidents in the Victorian capital over the last weekend alone. Israeli restaurant Miznon was targeted by masked pro-Palestinian protesters, with the group chanting "death to the IDF" - the Israel Defence Forces. Photographer Joshua Stanyer was there. "People made a decision to begin to disperse because obviously people were about to be arrested. And then while they were leaving, some protesters were flipping tables and throwing chairs, but by that point all the diners had cleared out." Hours later, a group spray-painted cars with antisemitic messages and set them alight outside at a Greensborough business in the city's northeast, while in a fourth incident, stencils were used to spraypaint offensive images on pillars and walls near a Holocaust museum in Elsternwick. The group behind the restaurant incident has condemned the fire attack. They say their actions were a protest against restaurant part-owner and Israeli businessman Shahar Segal, a spokesperson for the US backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation which has been heavily criticised for its aid distribution operations. The protesters say it's cheap and irresponsible to link their actions with the arson incident. Still, Rabbi Dovid Gutnick says the Jewish community is reeling from everything that has happened, and argues that people can carry empathy for one group without descending into hateful acts. "I'm glad that they've made quick progress on this. But against that is a wider story that there is this slightly permissive attitude around this type of attack at the moment." These concerns are not limited to Victoria. In New South Wales, Jewish school principals have told a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism that their security teams now resemble counter-terrorism squads in an effort to keep students safe. Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer says her school has repeatedly been targeted and is now spending $3.9 million a year on security, an 86 per cent increase compared with security spending before the Israel-Hamas conflict began. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says the government is doing everything it can to bring the temperature down. He says he considers the Melbourne synagogue incident an attack on Australia too. "As you see people become braver with their bigotry, we need to remember intersecting this at the first possible moment is one of the kindest things you can do and one of the things that is most consistent with who we are as a nation." Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reece says part of his focus going forward will be on police responses. He's already confirmed he's working with Victoria Police and the state government to examine police powers to stamp out extreme and violent protests. But groups like the Jewish Council of Australia say it would be reckless and unfair to target legitimate protests and link them with acts they say ARE antisemitic, acts they've described as vile and heartbreaking. Acting Commander Zorka Dunstan from Victoria Police says in the meantime, detectives are yet to declare the synagogue incident an act of terrorism. "At the moment, we are categorising it as a serious criminal incident and responding accordingly." Leaders from Australia's Muslim communities have also weighed in. The Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, has told SBS Arabic urgent action is necessary to ensure all places of worship are protected. "The threat wasn't limited to the Jewish synagogue — mosques have also been targeted in the past. Just as we are committed to protecting our own beliefs, we have a responsibility to act swiftly to safeguard the beliefs and places of worship of others. I also call for the teaching, understanding, and protection of all religious beliefs." That's a call echoed by Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal. She wants to see antisemitism training to reduce societal ignorance about the issue. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released a statement calling for a tough response, while the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has urged the government to adopt a 15 point action plan that includes a national task force to clamp down on antisemitism. Federal opposition frontbencher Melissa McIntosh has also demanded Anthony Albanese coordinate a national response. "What about national cabinet? Why isn't he convening national cabinet and bringing the states together with urgency to address this issue?" At the state level, in Victoria, a new anti-hate taskforce has already been set up, which Premier Jacinta Allan says will have the responsibility of tackling what she's called the "bigger picture". The Premier has also indicated she has not forgotten her earlier promise to ban protests outside places of worship and demonstrators wearing face coverings, after a blaze destroyed two buildings at the Adass Israel Synagogue in the city's south in December. That legislation is yet to be introduced to state parliament. "I will not rest - will not rest - and will continue to take every action necessary - to not just strengthen the law but to respond and lead, in terms of how we as a community need to act. To say very, very clearly that acts of hate, acts of violence, acts of antisemitism have no place here in Melbourne and Victoria." The Victorian government has also announced plans to bolster mental health support services for the community in response to these incidents, as some members of the public - like Melbourne resident Jane Austin - openly express their worry. "I just feel that - I don't fully understand the politics and the history but just from a human perspective, it's just tragedy. I just feel really sad." The Victorian Premier has sought to reassure those concerns. "And if I can share something that Rabbi Gutnick shared with us today which he shared with his congregation on Saturday morning as well, he said, 'Out of this negative experience is the opportunity to springboard forward to a stronger, positive future. And if you consider just as the fire came to the front door here of this shule - but it was stopped - so too must we put a stop to hate.' "