SYDNEY — Members of the Jewish community here made it clear they will not be intimidated as more than 2,000 turned out for a rally Dec. 15 to condemn recent attacks on Jews and synagogues.
Four days earlier, homes in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra had been painted with anti-Israel graffiti and a car set on fire, just three weeks after a similar attack there. And in Melbourne, the Adass Israel Synagogue was set on fire and gutted Dec. 6. Over 1,000 members of the Jewish community protested there two days later.
Rabbi Benjamin Elton told the Sydney rally how the Great Synagogue in the city center had been besieged by some 70 demonstrators Dec. 4, screaming for the destruction of Israel. Police responded by imposing a lockdown to prevent those in the synagogue from leaving. Ofir Birenbaum, of Together With Israel, told the rally that when he arrived he was arrested for “antagonizing the protesters” because he carried an Israeli flag. They are allowed to demand “Drive out the Jews,” he said, but if we express ourselves, we are breaching the peace.
Elton said that the Great Synagogue, which opened in 1878, had never faced antisemitic attacks until this year, following Hamas’ murderous Oct. 7, 2023, pogrom in Israel.
Hamas supporters demonstrate in the city every week, he said, while Jews are placed in lockdown. This violence in the streets is what led to the torching of the synagogue in Melbourne, he said. “This is no longer a threat. This is our reality.”
A protest by pro-Hamas thugs at the Caulfield Shule in Melbourne Nov. 25 was routed by 200 Jews who turned up to defend it.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry recorded 2,062 Jew-hating attacks from October 2023 to last September, a more than fourfold increase over the previous year. These include physical assaults, vandalism, arson, graffiti and verbal abuse.
A Dec. 10 message from the Communist League to the Adass Israel Synagogue congregation said that the arson attack that gutted the synagogue “was an act of antisemitic violence that must be condemned by working people, our unions, and all supporters of democratic rights.”
“Acting to answer every instance of antisemitism today is vital not only for Jewish people,” the message said, “but for working people of every nationality and our unions, and for the future of all of us.”