Cars set ablaze, graffitied in new antisemitic attack in Sydney suburb

Two cars were set on fire, multiple more graffitied with antisemitic slogans, and the former home of an Australian Jewish leader was splashed with paint in a Sydney suburb on Friday, according to statements by the New South Wales Police Force and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, as law enforcement made arrests for a similar November incident.Police are investigating the Dover Heights incident that occurred before dawn. NSW Premier Chris Minns assured on social media Friday, “We'll be doing everything we can to catch these thugs.”The home that had paint splashed on it once belonged to Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin.The Jewish Board said it was liaising with law enforcement and the NSW state government on the incident and previous acts of vandalism and arson, but was “profoundly disturbed and sickened to wake up to news of yet another antisemitic attack.”“Criminal acts like these, perpetrated by masked cowards and thugs in the dead of night, are intended to menace and intimidate the Jewish community and further fragment our social cohesion,” the board said.“All Australians should be outraged by what [we] are seeing on our streets. Images of cars being firebombed and houses being attacked are scenes which we should never see in Sydney. We simply cannot accept this as the new normal and must not become desensitized to these crimes.”View of the synagogue in Sydney daubed in antisemitic graffiti. January 10, 2025. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X/VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT)The board said that such incidents should be seen as domestic terrorism.Minns said on X/Twitter that the vandalism was the “latest example of a rising level of antisemitic attacks in our community.”On Thursday, NSW Police arrested a man in connection to the November 21 arson of a car in Woollahra. The 21-year-old man is set to appear before court on March 3 for his involvement in the incident in which the vehicle was destroyed and another damaged. Nine other vehicles were also allegedly graffitied, as well as three buildings. The total estimated value of the damage is around AUD 100,000 (almost $62,000), according to police.Under its Strike Force Mylor, police said that they had previously arrested two other men, aged 19 and 20.The Jewish Board on Thursday welcomed the arrest of the alleged vandal, as well as the arrest of a man making death threats to a Jewish organization – the first by the Australian Federal Police under a special operation launched in response to escalating antisemitic incidents in Australia.“To restore deterrence, it is essential that individuals who commit crimes motivated by antisemitic animus are swiftly identified, prosecuted, and receive substantial penalties,” said the board. “The arrests made this afternoon of individuals allegedly associated with such crimes are a step in the right direction.”After the November Woollahra incident, a car was set ablaze and two properties spray-painted with anti-Israel messages in Sydney on December 11.Synagogue defaced with swastikasLast Saturday, the Newtown Synagogue was defaced with swastikas, a Queens Park home was vandalized with an antisemitic slogan, and five cars and a trailer were graffitied on the same street.The day before, the Southern Sydney Synagogue was graffitied with swastikas and phrases that included “Hitler on top” and “Free Palestine.” A Queens Park car was also vandalized last Monday and graffitied with the words “F*** the Jews.”Amid the spate of antisemitic incidents in Sydney, the US State Department's International Religious Freedom Office stated on X that “rising antisemitism in Australia is deeply concerning.”“There is no place for such acts of hate in Australia or anywhere across the globe,” the office said Thursday.Australian Home Affairs Shadow Minister Sen. James Paterson responded on social media Friday, remarking that a few years ago, such a statement from the State Department concerning Australia would have been inconceivable.“It is a stain on our great country and must be fixed through strong leadership,” said Paterson.

Cars set ablaze, graffitied in new antisemitic attack in Sydney suburb

Police are investigating the Dover Heights incident that occurred before dawn.

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Cars set ablaze, graffitied in new antisemitic attack in Sydney suburb

Police are investigating the Dover Heights incident that occurred before dawn.

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