 "Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, Australia, December 6, 2024. Reuters")
An Australian synagogue was set on fire in the early hours of Friday (December 6), with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemning it as an “act of hate”. The police are looking for two people suspected of deliberately lighting the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne ablaze injuring one.
Albanese has said there is no place for anti-semitism in Australia. “This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage. This attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community,” he said in a statement.
Australia has seen a rise in anti-Jewish incidents since Hamas’ attack on Israel last October that triggered a war in Gaza.
Let’s take a closer look.
Melbourne synagogue attacked
The Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east was widely damaged in the blaze early Friday.
About 60 firefighters with 17 fire trucks were pressed into service to douse the fire, Associated Press (AP) reported citing the police.
“There was some banging on a door with some liquid thrown inside and was lit alight, the few people inside the synagogue ran outside the back door, one of them got burnt,” Adass Israel Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“The whole place took alight pretty quickly.”
According to the police, the fire was deliberately started but they are keeping an “open mind” about the motive.
“We believe it was deliberate. We believe it has been targeted. What we don’t know is why and we’ll get to the why,” Detective Inspector Chris Murray told reporters.
He said a witness told the police that two people in masks appeared to spread accelerant inside the synagogue.
“There are two persons of interest who were there and [were] witnessed … using accelerant and then spreading it with a broom, clearly designed to maximise the damage that could occur,” PM Albanese said, as per The Guardian report.
He has blamed antisemitism for the attack.
“This was a shocking incident to be unequivocally condemned. There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this,” AP quoted the Australian PM as saying.
“To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. To attack a synagogue is an act of antisemitism, is attacking the right that all Australians should have to practice their faith in peace and security,” Albanese added.
The PM said counter-terror police will work together with the Victoria state police on the investigation.
As per The Guardian, rabbi Gabi Kaltmann said “two thugs” broke the windows of the synagogue, threw fuel on the floor and set fire as worshippers were getting ready to pray early Friday morning.
Commenting on the incident, the Australian Jewish Association said it was “outraged but not at all surprised” by the attack, reported Reuters.
Recent anti-semitic incidents in Australia
Last month, a car was torched and nine other vehicles and three buildings vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s suburb of Woollahra. The phrase “fk Israel” was spray painted on the vehicles.
A 20-year-old man was arrested and charged with 21 offences, including 14 counts of damaging and destroying property.
In November, five female students from a Jewish school allegedly faced antisemitic abuse on a tram in Melbourne. As per the Herald Sun report, two men allegedly shouted “heil Hitler” at the group of students.
Days after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel last year, pro-Palestine protesters were heard allegedly chanting “f*** the Jews” and “f*** Israel” at a rally in Sydney.
As per The Times of Israel report, in October 2023, three men assaulted a 44-year-old Jewish man in Sydney in a public park, calling him a “Jew dog”. The victim sustained a concussion and fractures to his spine.
Rise in antisemitism in Australia
Australia has seen a surge in Islamophobia and antisemitism since Israel’s war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza that has caused thousands of casualties.
The war in West Asia has divided Australia, with the country reporting protests from both Jewish and Muslim communities.
In July, Australia appointed a special envoy – lawyer and businesswoman Jillian Segal – to combat antisemitism. She is responsible for consulting community leaders and discrimination experts to advise the government to preserve “social cohesion”, reported BBC.
A report released by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) on December 1 says Australia recorded 2,062 antisemitic incidents between October 2023 and September 2024, a 316 per cent rise from the previous 12-month period when 495 anti-Jewish incidents were reported.
As per the ECAJ report, 65 Jews were physically assaulted this year in Australia. It also recorded 29 instances of vandalism and 393 incidents of anti-Jewish graffiti.
The report called for “resolute action” from the government and police to stop the increasing “acts of hatred against the Jewish community and bringing those responsible to account.”
With inputs from agencies