November 21, 2024
Police have set up a strike force and are hunting for two people captured on camera running away from an anti-Israel graffiti spree in the heart of Sydney’s Jewish community amid heightened tensions over conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.
Police labelled the attack as “brazen” while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no place for antisemitism in Australia, as Jewish leaders expressed alarm over the latest escalation.
A ute was torched and other cars were graffitied with the words “f--- Israel” and “PKK is coming” in the inner-eastern suburb of Woollahra.
Celebrity chef Matt Moran had the windows of his restaurant Chiswick spray-painted with the same slogans.
Police and firefighters were called out at about 12.30am on Thursday to respond to the vehicle fire in Wellington Street and discovered a further 10 cars had been vandalised in surrounding streets, while the door of a block of units was also graffitied. There were no reports of injuries.
PKK may be a reference to the Kurdistan Workers Party, a political and armed guerilla separatist movement that wants greater autonomy for Kurds living in Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
The group has carried out attacks against the Turkish government. The Turkish consulate in Sydney is in Ocean Street, where some of the cars were damaged. The PKK has been banned as a terrorist organisation in Australia.
The PKK has declared its opposition to Israel, although Israel has had informal ties with the Kurds, seeing their fellow ethnic minority as allies in hostile Arab countries.
The commander of Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, Detective Acting Superintendent Adam Solah, said an estimated $70,000 to $80,000 of damage had been done to the vehicles and $20,000 to $30,000 to buildings.
Extensive canvassing of the neighbourhood had turned up CCTV footage showing two people running away from Wellington St after the fire. They were described as wearing dark clothing, hooded tops and face masks.
“We’re trying to determine the motivation for the offensive graffiti,” Acting Superintendent Solah said.
“NSW Police won’t tolerate any form of hate crime or any sort of offensive behaviour.”
Mr Moran said the restaurant had been cleaned up and reopened for normal trade on Thursday.
“It’s incredibly disappointing to see this amount of vandalism – there’s no place for it in our community. We are cooperating with the relevant authorities in their investigation,” he said.
Mr Albanese was confronted images of the graffiti rampage just hours after returning from South America, where he attended the G20 and APEC leaders’ summits.
“These are disturbing scenes and deeply troubling to all Australians,” the PM said.
“There is no place for antisemitism in Australia. Conflict overseas cannot be made a platform for prejudice at home.
“I have trust in our law enforcement agencies to deal with this.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip said the organisation was closely liaising with the authorities.
“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 Jewish community will not be intimidated by such acts of criminality and antisemitism.”
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said police and governments had to enforce the full extent of the law.
“We must send a very strong message that it is totally and utterly unacceptable to engage in politically motivated violence in Australia,” he said.
“Because the truth is if people engaging in this behaviour do not fear the consequences of their behaviour then they will be emboldened and their behaviour will continue to escalate.”
