Congregation flees after arsonist sets fire to an Australian synagogue door
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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Alleged arsonist charged over fire at Australian synagogue
MELBOURNE: A man was charged Sunday over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue in an apparent escalation of antisemitic violence in Australia's second-most populous city. Angelo Loras, 34, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court Sunday charged with arson, endangering life and property damage. He was also charged with possessing a 'controlled weapon' on Saturday when he was arrested. The charge sheet does not say what that weapon was. The Sydney resident did not enter a plea or apply to be released on bail. Magistrate John Lesser remanded Loras in custody to appear in court next on July 22. Flammable liquid was ignited at the door of the East Melbourne Synagogue, also known as the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, on Friday night as 20 worshippers shared a Shabbat meal inside. The congregation escaped without harm via a rear door and firefighters contained the blaze to the entrance area of the 148-year-old building. It was the first of three apparent displays of antisemitic violence across the city on Friday and early Saturday morning. Authorities have yet to establish a link between incidents at the synagogue and two businesses. Antisemitism blamed for attacks on businesses Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant. A restaurant window was cracked, tables were flipped and chairs thrown as protesters chanted 'Death to the IDF,' referring to the Israel Defense Forces. A 28-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and charged with hindering police. Police are also investigating the spray-painting of a business in Melbourne's northern suburbs and an arson attack on three vehicles attached to the business before dawn on Saturday. The vehicles had also been graffitied. Police said there were antisemitic 'inferences' at the scene. The business had also been the target of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the past year. Political leaders condemn antisemitism Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke met with Jewish leaders at the damaged synagogue on Sunday. Burke told reporters that investigators were searching for potential links between the three incidents. 'At this stage, our authorities have not drawn links between them. But obviously there's a link in antisemitism. There's a link in bigotry. There's a link in a willingness to either call for violence, to chant violence or to take out violent actions. They are very much linked in that way,' Burke said. 'There were three attacks that night and none of them belonged in Australia. Arson attacks, the chanting calls for death, other attacks and graffiti — none of it belonged in Australia and they were attacks on Australia,' Burke added. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Australian government to 'take all action to deal with the rioters to the fullest extent of the law and prevent similar attacks in the future.' 'I view with utmost gravity the antisemitic attacks that occurred last night in Melbourne, which included attempted arson of a synagogue in the city and a violent assault against an Israeli restaurant by pro-Palestinian rioters,' Netanyahu said in a statement on Saturday. 'The reprehensible antisemitic attacks, with calls of 'death to the IDF' and an attempt to attack a place of worship, are severe hate crimes that must be uprooted,' he added.
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Australia police charge man over alleged arson on Melbourne synagogue
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshipers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation's Jewish community. There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state. Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. Counterterrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said. The man, whom authorities have not identified, was due to face court on Sunday. 'The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,' police said in a statement. Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police. The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia's Jews. It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne's oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner. Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to 'condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne's historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together.' 'This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,' Herzog said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as 'severe hate crimes' that he viewed "with utmost gravity". 'The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,' Netanyahu said on X. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law's full force. 'My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,' Albanese posted on X. Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
Trump says he didn't know an offensive term he used in a speech is considered antisemitic
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump says he didn't know the term 'shylock' is considered antisemitic when he used it in a speech to describe unscrupulous moneylenders. Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had 'never heard it that way' and 'never heard that' the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews. Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor. The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term 'evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump's use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.' Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president, said in 2014 that he had made a 'poor choice' of words a day after he used the term in remarks to a legal aid group. Trump's administration has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said it is screening for antisemitic activity when granting immigration benefits and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated antisemitism. But the Republican president has also had a history of playing on stereotypes about Jewish people. He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that 'you want to control your politicians' and suggested the audience used money to exert control. Before he kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump drew widespread criticism for dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist. Last year, Trump made repeated comments accusing Jewish Americans who identify as Democrats of disloyalty because of the Democratic leaders' criticisms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics said it perpetuated an antisemitic trope about Jews having divided loyalties and there being only one right way to be Jewish. On Thursday night in his speech in Iowa, Trump used the term while talking about his signature legislation that was passed by Congress earlier in the day. 'No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing some from, in some cases, a fine banker and in some cases shylocks and bad people,' he said. When a reporter later asked about the word's antisemitic association and his intent, Trump said; 'No, I've never heard it that way. To me, a shylock is somebody that's a money lender at high rates. I've never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I've never heard that.' The Anti-Defamation League said Trump's use of the word 'underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States.'
