A Sydney synagogue has been graffitied with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs overnight in what’s been described as a “monstrous act”.
Police patrolling the area as part of Operation Shelter discovered the Southern Sydney Synagogue on Railway Ave in Allawah had been vandalised about 4.30am on Friday.
Southern Sydney Synagogue president George Foster received a call from police informing him what happened.
Mr Foster said people in the Jewish community were feeling distressed, upset and somewhat uncertain.
“The theory is it may not stop with just graffiti, it could move to violence, which has happened in other countries,” Mr Foster said.
Vandals graffitied Southern Sydney Synagogue with swastikas and anti-Semitic slurs. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard
In 1991, the Southern Sydney Synagogue was fire bombed after the Iraq War, and in 2002, it was also graffitied.
Following the fire bombing, metal bars were installed over the synagogue’s windows, glass was strengthened and mesh was installed.
“I keep wondering how is it in Australia that I have to pray in a building with bars on the window? It doesn’t seem right,” Mr Foster said.
“We will overcome this. We won’t let them beat us.”
Mr Foster is also the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants president. His parents were Holocaust survivors.
He said the graffiti, particularly mentions of Hitler, brought back images of 1933.
Shades of pink mark the remnants of anti-Semitic graffiti on the Southern Sydney Synagogue. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard
“It’s just unbelievable that people are doing this,” he said.
“When people get an ideology in their head, then it is very hard to shift it, if you can at all.
“Telling them to stop or move on, that’s not going to stop them, one has to make the point that what happened to the synagogue today is what happens when there is such mindless racism.”
A neighbour who lives near the synagogue woke up to discover his car had been covered in graffiti intended to hurt the Jewish people in his community.
The man moved his car and told The Daily Telegraph that his Jewish neighbours would have been mortified if they had seen it.
“They would be disgusted, there is no place for that in this community or anywhere in Australia,” he said.
The incident happened near Premier Chris Minns’ home. He said it was a shocking act of vandalism and graffiti.
Premier Chris Minns labelled the incident a ‘monstrous act’ and said the vandals had hate in their hearts. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
“The Southern Sydney Synagogue was vandalised in a horrifying, hate-filled attack by individuals that have got hate in their hearts, that are determined to divide our community in two,” he said.
“It was a monstrous act, and 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 and what their ultimate aim is when it comes to members of the Jewish community.
“I think it’s disgusting and disgraceful, 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 repudiates that kind of horrifying vandalism, that horrifying violence, in our community.”
The incidents took place in Mr Minns’ electorate of Kogarah. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
Mr Minns said the government was committed to strengthening laws and would throw resources to prevent “hate-filled” crimes.
“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 this morning, not just in southern Sydney, but across metropolitan Sydney in the last few months,” he said.
“It’s the opposite of the community that we want to live in. It doesn’t represent our values, and it’s completely repudiated.”
Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told reporters that two men in hoodies were allegedly filmed on CCTV in the early hours of the morning.
He said police had been patrolling the area to protect the Jewish community because of ongoing attacks of this nature when they spotted the graffiti.
Assistant Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said police patrolling Allawah as part of Operation Shelter discovered the Southern Sydney Synagogue had been covered in graffiti about 4.30am on Friday. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard
“We have dedicated resources that will be investigating this particular incident,” Mr McKenna said.
“We are in the early stages of this investigation and we will be reviewing all of the CCTV, canvassing the area and at this early stage we will say that we have got a number of leads to follow up on.
“To those people who want to do this sort of thing, we would say to you, you will get caught, you will get prosecuted and you will be put before the courts.”
Mr McKenna said it was disgusting for people to try to put fear into a community and it would not be tolerated under the Racial Discrimination Act.
“As NSW Police we take it very seriously,” he said.
“It is not the Australian way, it is not something we should put up with.”
Anthony Albanese said there was no place in Australia for such attacks. Picture: NewsWire/ Sharon Smith
Speaking from Perth, Anthony Albanese said the attack on the Southern Sydney Synagogue was a crime and the people responsible should feel the full force of the law.
“That’s why my government was the first to introduce legislation to make sure that crimes such as this are called out for what they are; they are hateful, and there’s no place in Australia,” the Prime Minister said.
“Australians should respect each other and overwhelmingly do regardless of their faith.
“We’re a multicultural nation, we need to be inclusive and cohesive.”