Jewish Groups Condemn ‘Evil’ Antisemitic Vandalism in Sydney

Last week, antisemitic vandals in Sydney spray painted anti-Israel slogans on cars, torched vehicles and damaged buildings.

By Shula Rosen, United with Israel

Australian and International Jewish groups condemned the large-scale antisemitic violence in East Sydney last week that saw massive graffiti, torched cars and left $100,000 in damage.

Last week, antisemitic vandals targeted the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Woollahra in Sydney’s inner east, spray painting anti-Israel slogans on cars, torching vehicles and damaging buildings.

Matt Moran, owner of the Chiswick restaurant on which vandals painted “F**k Israel” told The Sydney Morning Herald, “It’s incredibly disappointing to see this amount of vandalism – there’s no place for it in our community,” he said.

Some of the cars were spray painted with “PKK is coming” referring to a designated Kurdish terrorist group operating in Australia.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory told The Nightly that authorities should be taking antisemitism more seriously.
He said while he was “disappointed” by the Woollahra vandalism, he was “not entirely surprised”.

“Labor has looked on as an increasingly violent anti-Israel movement has taken over Australian streets,” Mr Gregory said.
“The Jewish community has been begging authorities to take this seriously.”

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies characterized the vandalism as a “campaign of intimidation and harassment targeted at the Jewish community.”

“The Jewish community will not be intimated by such acts of criminality and antisemitism, their statement read.

“We will continue to stand with our fellow Australians to reject acts and words of division and hate which seek to disrupt the societal harmony we all treasure”.

Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said of the vandalism: “It was evil.”

“This is a frontal assault on our values, on decency, and on the soul of our nation,” Dr Abramovich said.

He said the “cowardly, hate-fueled crime” was a direct result of the explosion of antisemitism around Australia.

“Words of dehumanization have real-world consequences, and this is proof of what happens when rhetoric becomes violence.”