Australian police vow to hunt down anti-Semitic vandals
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Anti-Semitic graffiti was removed after it was spray-painted on the Southern Sydney Synagogue, on Jan 10.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
SYDNEY – Australian police vow to crack down on a spate of anti-Semitic “hate crimes”, after cars were torched and painted with slurs on Jan 17 in an affluent Sydney suburb.
Two cars were set ablaze and other vehicles were daubed with anti-Jewish slogans near the former home of a Jewish community leader.
Police said these latest “hate crimes” included a house being splashed with red paint.
The property once belonged to prominent Jewish Australian advocate Alex Ryvchin, and police are investigating if the attack is an attempt to target him.
“This was my family home for many years. It’s where my wife and I brought our youngest daughter home from the hospital. It’s where we hunkered down during the pandemic,” Mr Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told reporters on Jan 17.
“I tell you no fire, no vandalism, no paint, no threats, no intimidation will stop me. I will continue to fulfil my duty to my country, my community and my people,” he added.
New South Wales state police minister Yasmin Catley vowed to “hunt” down the perpetrators.
“We will find you and lock you up,” she said. “What we are seeing on our streets is totally un-Australian.”
Vandals last week defaced two Sydney synagogues with Nazi symbols.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said it is “a form of hatred and bigotry that has no place in Australia”.
“I unequivocally condemn the crimes that have been committed overnight,” he added.
Masked arsonists torched a Melbourne synagogue in December 2024, prompting the government to create a federal task force targeting anti-Semitism. AFP
