‘A scourge’: PM condemns anti-Semitic graffiti

Australians do not believe in targeting people because of who they are, the prime minister says in condemnation of the latest round of anti-Semitic graffiti.

“F*** the Jews” was painted on a white Volkswagen parked in Queens Park, in Sydney’s east, the latest in a string of inflammatory slogans sprayed around the city.

Other anti-Semitic 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.

Targeting people because of who they are goes against Australian values, Anthony Albanese said. (Russell Freeman/AAP PHOTOS)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no tolerance for anti-Semitism, labelling it a “scourge” on Monday.

“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 told reporters.

The December graffiti in Sydney’s east came shortly after the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast was firebombed, prompting federal police to set up a special operation investigating threats towards the Jewish community and parliamentarians.

NSW Police are investigating the graffiti which is believed to have been sprayed between 7am Sunday and 5.45am Monday and have appealed for anyone with information to contact authorities.

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 are being conducted with additional police assigned to combat a rise in deeply alarming anti-Semitic incidents, NSW Premier Chris Minns says.

The Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast was firebombed in December. (Yumi Rosenbaum/AAP PHOTOS)

“The NSW government is committed to blunting this appalling increase in hateful and violent acts against the Jewish community,” Mr Minns said in a statement.

“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 in a statement.

Hate speech and intimidation is on the rise in Australia triggered by the war in Gaza.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman in December said anti-Semitism, 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.

Image Credits and Reference: https://au.news.yahoo.com/scourge-pm-condemns-anti-semitic-030732484.html