After a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations called for ‘Intifada’ in Australia, the country’s largest synagogue in the city of Melbourne was firebombed by masked attackers during Friday morning prayers.
The attackers firebombed the main entrance of the Adass Israel synagogue while congregants were inside, injuring one worshiper. “Worshipers were forced to flee an Australian synagogue after it was set on fire,” the BBC reported. “Community leaders told local media that “a few people” were inside at the time for morning prayers, and they had reported seeing firebombs thrown. One person was injured and the fire caused extensive damage.”
The police were looking for two masked men, who were spotted “pouring petrol over the synagogue’s front entrance and that windows were smashed and Molotov cocktails thrown into the building,” the Australian media outlet NEWS reported.
The fire caused inestimable damage to the synagogue’s possessions, destroying a rare collection of holy books and handwritten Torah scrolls. “It’s believed the damage caused to the inside of the synagogue is significant,” the Australian broadcaster SBS reported. “One congregation member estimated millions of dollars worth of holy books and valuable handwritten Torah scrolls were inside, which were carefully loaded into a car later in the day.”
The Australian broadcaster ABC reported the details of the arson attack:
Fire crews were called to the Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south-east shortly after 4am and found a large fire burning through the building.Early-morning worshippers inside the synagogue reported seeing two masked men throw fuel inside the premises, before setting it alight.”There was some banging on a door with some liquid thrown inside and was lit alight, the few people inside the synagogue ran outside the back door, one of them got burnt,” Adass Israel Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein said.He believed the fire had destroyed “a huge amount of furniture and holy books and Torah scrolls”.”It’s quite horrendous and the community is really reeling from it,” he said.”This is the focal point of the community, the jewel in the crown of the community and to see it lying burnt and in ruins is quite horrendous.
With Australia’s rapidly growing Muslim population, the country is witnessing a surge in Antisemitism. Since October 7, 2023, there has been a wave of anti-Israel demonstrations nationwide.
Two days after the October 7 massacre, Hamas supporters in Sydney were heard chanting ‘Gas the Jews’ outside the city’s landmark Opera House. Australian university campuses have seen student demonstrations calling for Intifada, a reference to Palestinian terrorist campaigns against Jews and Israelis in the early 1990s and early 2000s.
The first anniversary of the October 7 massacre was marred by pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Australia. “Thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators have taken to the streets in cities across Australia on the eve of the anniversary of the October 7 attacks,” the ABC (Australia) reported.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Australia’s left-wing Labour Party government for fanning the flames of Antisemitism by its anti-Israel policies. On Wednesday, the Australian government voted in favor of an anti-Israel resolution at the United Nations.
The Times of Israel reported Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blames the “anti-Israel attitude of the Labor government in Australia” for the arson of a Melbourne synagogue earlier this morning.In a post expressing “shock” at the “classic, despicable, antisemitic incident,” the prime minister points to Australia’s vote in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza earlier this week, along with its refusal to grant a visa to a former Israeli minister last month.“I expect the authorities in [Australia] to exert all their weight to prevent such antisemitic attacks in the future,” the prime minister says.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY