Faith leaders unite at arson-hit synagogue

Melbourne’s religious leaders stood together at the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation on Thursday morning in a powerful display of solidarity following the synagogue’s arson attack, with a neighbouring Anglican church offering to host the congregation’s Shabbat dinner.

Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli led the interfaith gathering organised by the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.

East Melbourne’s Rabbi, Dovid Gutnick, told the leaders there was a difference between previous incidents and the recent arson attack, saying it occurred “at a time when it was obvious that there were people in the building.”

“It’s not what happened, but what was intended to happen and what could have happened, and that’s the trauma that our community is feeling at the moment,” he said.

Rabbi Ralph Genende, AIJAC’s Interfaith and Community Liaison, said that Jews could not cure antisemitism alone.

“We Jewish people cannot cure antisemitism, only the antisemite can do that together with the society to which they belong,” he said.

“Because Jews are not the cause of antisemitism, but we are rather the object of it, and like a rogue virus or like some kind of pandemic, it is something that won’t stop with the Jews, but it contaminates us all in our society.”

Rabbi Genende emphasised that while Jews maintained connections to Israel, they should not be held responsible for the state’s actions.

“What happened at this gem of a synagogue, one of the oldest synagogues here in Australia, in the very heart of Melbourne and down the road from here at a restaurant, is not about Israel. It’s about the kind of unbridled, often irrational hatred of Jewish people,” he said.

The rabbi called for stronger police powers to monitor protests, saying Jewish citizens should not feel intimidated by Sunday demonstrations that were “too often too aggressive in their nature, violent in their words, and offensive in their expression.”

Archbishop Comensoli praised the gathering as an important sign for Melbourne.

“That we could all Muslim, Christian, Jewish and others can stand together is a sign, I hope, for others to do likewise, to not take the path of violence or assault or intimidation or brokenness, but to take rather a path towards healing and reconciliation and hope,” he said.

“There is no place for intimidation. There is no place for violence by way of what we say, or even by our actions.”

Batul Gulani from the Ithna Ashari Shia Muslim community told The AJN she attended to “bring peace and harmony” and demonstrate solidarity.

“An attack on a worship place is an attack on core values of the faith,” she said.

“Nobody has to attack anyone’s worship place. You need to be safe, secure and fearless, to do your prayers and worship in a gathering.”

Gulani, said her community supported her attendance at the event with other religious figures during their commemoration of Ashura.

“We are here for you,” she told the Jewish community.

“We need to do this through dialogue. We have got differences. We have got different views. But at the end, we all have to focus on our similarity, which is more on our humanity.”