Southern Sydney Synagogue vandalised with Swastika signs
"The painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are," said NSW Premier Chris Minns.
The latest incident of Jew-hatred on our streets has seen Southern Sydney Synagogue vandalised with at least a dozen Swastika signs.
According to The Daily Telegraph, President of the synagogue George Foster said he received a call from the police at around 4.30am telling him they had driven by and saw graffiti all over the synagogue.
“Looking at the CCTV it seems there were two men in black hoodies and masks who were spraying the walls of the synagogue,” said Foster.
“It is deeply distressing but it’s almost inevitable given the background on the rise of antisemitism currently.
The synagogue is in NSW Premier Chris Minns’ local electorate of Kogarah and he described the vandalism as a “monstrous act”.
“I think that the painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are,” said Minns.
“It’s around the corner from my house and I know that the people that I represent and the community that I live in, completely repudiate that kind of horrifying vandalism, that horrifying violence, in our community. We have lived with the Southern Sydney Synagogue for many, many years. It’s been in our community for decades. It’s much loved and much revered by members of the local community, whether they are of the Jewish faith or not.”
The Premier visited the site and said he had spoken to the president and the vice-president of the synagogue.
“I know that they’re appalled but they don’t believe, and nor should they, that this is representative of the community’s acceptance and closeness to the Jewish community in southern city,” he said.
Minns added that the government will continue to strengthen the laws and throw resources at crime prevention in its efforts to prevent “hate crimes”.
“But I also want to say that there are, unfortunately, some bastards out there that are determined to rip our community in two and they should be ashamed of the actions that they’ve taken,” he added.
President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip said such illegal behavior is “reprehensible” and “undermines the social harmony and cohesion which we all treasure”.
“It isn’t normal or acceptable that Australians are having to wake up every morning filled with apprehension about whether or not there’s been another antisemitic hate crime overnight,” he said.
“We cannot allow ourselves to become desensitised to acts of Jew-hatred and allow illegal conduct such as this to become normalised.
“The alleged offenders must be swiftly identified and prosecuted and receive penalties sufficient to ensure that such conduct is deterred and not normalised.
“Enough is enough.”
Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin has called on Australians to speak out.
“The community expects swift arrests to be made and for those who deface houses of worship with the symbol of genocide to face the full force of the law,” he said.
“As long as these people evade justice for trying to terrorise Australian citizens, it will continue. We’re also calling on our fellow Australians, particularly those in positions of influence across society, to end the silence and publicly denounce this behaviour as repugnant to our national values and a threat to us all.”
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