Australia’s Jewish community admits it has been rattled by a string of anti-Semitic attacks, forced into extra vigilance and security measures for fear of becoming the next target.
At least three separate acts of vandalism have targeted Sydney’s Jewish community in the past week, including swastikas painted on synagogues and arson attempts.
A house formerly owned by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin was targeted in an arson and graffiti attack on Friday, which some say represents an escalation.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said each attack sent “seismic shockwaves” through the community and left people constantly looking over their shoulders, particularly identifiable Jewish people.
“It’s not just bricks and mortar being defaced or cars being torched … it’s trust, belonging, and peace of mind being destroyed,” he told AAP.
“These attacks don’t just break windows or spray hate-filled graffiti – they shatter invisible bonds of safety and security that hold a community together, they cast a shadow over every celebration, every prayer, and every moment of joy.”
Dr Abramovich said Jewish families felt their lives have been turned into “an endless exercise in vigilance” with homes and places of worship turned into “fortresses”.
“(But) this isn’t about security measures. It’s about a nation staring at its moral reflection and finding it shattered,” he said.
“This is not just about the Jewish community – it’s about the kind of society we’re building for everyone … are we content to let bigotry carve scars into our national identity, or will we draw a line in the sand and say ‘not here, not ever’?”
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein agreed and said national social cohesion had been severely stretched.
“We are of course profoundly concerned that anti-Semitic incidents continue to snowball, with synagogue after synagogue being struck by arsonists and vandals, and incident after incident targeting Australia’s Jews,” he told AAP.
Speaking after his former family house was targeted, Mr Ryvchin would not discuss his personal security measures but said he had taken advice from counter-terrorism police.
“The fact we should even be contemplating these things, the fact a person who speaks out for his community should have to question his movements and his safety in this country, it shows something is horribly wrong,” he said.
Late on Friday, NSW Multicultural Minister Steve Kamper confirmed an incident of “heinous racially motivated graffiti” on a small business in Wiley Park, in southwest Sydney.
“This abhorrent, racist and Islamophobic language must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and we must continue to reject the importation of overseas conflict into our society,” he said.
