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Anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs ‘disturbing’, Anthony Albanese says Anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney has ‘no place in a modern Australia’, Josh Burns and Dave Sharma say
(about 3 hours later)
Vehicle set on fire in Woollahra and 10 cars vandalised with slogans ‘fuck Israel’ and ‘PKK coming’ Vehicle set on fire in Woollahra and cars vandalised with slogans ‘fuck Israel’ and ‘PKK coming’
A vehicle has been set on fire and 10 cars have been vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, sparking outrage and condemnation from politicians including the prime minister. A vehicle has been destroyed by fire and nine cars and three buildings have been vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, sparking outrage and condemnation from politicians including the prime minister.
New South Wales police said they had discovered the graffiti on the cars and the door of an apartment complex in Woollahra after they were alerted to the blaze about 12.30am on Thursday. New South Wales police said they had discovered the graffiti after they were alerted to the blaze in Woollahra about 12.30am on Thursday. The burning vehicle had also been tagged with graffiti, while another car was damaged from proximity to the fire.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and there were no reports of injuries. Police established a crime scene and are investigating. Two apartment complexes and Australian chef Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant – all within a 50 metre radius – were also vandalised. Police valued the total property damage to the premises and cars at about $90,000 to $120,000.
Two people were captured on CCTV running from the scene, both wearing face masks and dark hoodies, Detective Acting Supt Adam Solah said.
“It is disgusting behaviour,” Solah said. “These are people’s houses they live in. These are people’s cars.”
Firefighters extinguished the fire and there were no reports of injuries. Police established a crime scene and a dedicated strike force was investigating with “great assistance” from the local community, Solah said.
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Anthony Albanese condemned what he called “last night’s act of antisemitism” upon returning to Australia on Thursday morning from the Apec and G20 summits.Anthony Albanese condemned what he called “last night’s act of antisemitism” upon returning to Australia on Thursday morning from the Apec and G20 summits.
“These are disturbing scenes and deeply troubling to all Australians,” he said. “There is no place for antisemitism in Australia.”“These are disturbing scenes and deeply troubling to all Australians,” he said. “There is no place for antisemitism in Australia.”
The cars were spray painted with “fuck Israel” and “PKK coming”. Labor’s Josh Burns and Liberal Dave Sharma held a rare joint cross-party press conference, saying such actions have “no place in a modern Australia”.
They were parked around the corner from Sydney’s Turkish consulate. The Kurdistan Workers’ party, abbreviated to PKK, has been fighting for autonomy in south-east Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the country’s western allies. Burns, who is Jewish, and Sharma, the former ambassador to Israel, said they wanted to stand together to send a message that such abuse is “condemned across the political aisle”.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said the incidents appeared to be “a shocking act of political violence” that “must be met with the full force of the law”. “This community of Jewish Australians have been feeling besieged and under threat for the past year and it simply has to stop. This is not an attack on one community, it is an attack on the values and social contract that holds us all together as Australians,” Sharma said.
The local federal MP, Allegra Spender, said she was “deeply concerned” by the reports of “appalling antisemitic graffiti” and “completely unacceptable damage”. Burns said people had a right to protest and disagree, which he backed, but that such violence was “not a legitimate form of participating in the democratic process that we hold so dear”. Burns’ own office was attacked earlier this year with graffiti and vandalism.
Solah said police had not seen similar graffiti in recent times and viewed the vandalism as an isolated incident. The cars were spray painted with “fuck Israel” and “PKK coming”.
They were parked across the street and around the corner from Sydney’s Turkish consulate. The Turkish consulate said it had not been vandalised and was assisting police with inquiries.
The Kurdistan Workers’ party, abbreviated to PKK, has been fighting for autonomy in south-east Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey and the country’s western allies.
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The Greens senator David Shoebridge also condemned the incident as “frightening and unacceptable”. Solah said police would investigate the reference to the PKK while inquiring into vandals’ motives but it was too early in the investigation to determine why those vehicles and premises had been targeted.
Police urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers. The president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossip, said the incident added to a pattern of rising antisemitic behaviour.
– additional reporting by Emily Wind and Josh Butler “This is the latest escalation in a campaign of intimidation and harassment targeted at the Jewish community,” he said. “There cannot be any tolerance for criminal behaviour like this, which undermines social cohesion and is antithetical to the Australian values we all hold dear.”
The board has in recent months recorded multiple Hamas graffiti tags around Sydney’s eastern suburbs and violent graffiti in Rhodes, in Sydney’s west.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said Thursday’s incidents appeared to be “a shocking act of political violence” that “must be met with the full force of the law”.
Woollahra’s mayor, Sarah Swan, said events overnight had been “very distressing and worrying for our community”, while the local federal MP, Allegra Spender, said she was “deeply concerned” by the reports of “appalling antisemitic graffiti” and “completely unacceptable damage”.
Greens leader Adam Bandt and Greens senator David Shoebridge joined condemnations of the incident as “unacceptable”.
Police urged anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers.
– additional reporting by Emily Wind