Sydney’s antisemitic criminals besmirch our city’s reputation for tolerance and harmony

The right to protest in NSW should be cherished. But to come like sneak thieves in the night and spray antisemitic graffiti on vehicles, buildings and a business in Woollahra is the work of extremist cowards too afraid to publicly state their abhorrent words.

More than 10 cars were vandalised in the attack.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The two men wearing masks and hoodies caught on video fleeing the scene used the words of antisemitism, spray-painting vehicles, buildings and a restaurant with anti-Israel graffiti and the initials of the listed terrorist organisation, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with white paint. The attackers indiscriminately sprayed vehicles, buildings and a business with no apparent links to the Middle East war. Police have estimated damage to the 12 vehicles around $70,000 and up to $30,000 for three buildings.

The attack also occurred in the neighbourhood of a synagogue, a Jewish hospital and the Turkish consulate, and was discovered after emergency services were called to attend a torched ute in Wellington Street, Woollahra.

It has quite rightly appalled leaders across Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was no place for antisemitism in Australia. “Conflict overseas cannot be made a platform for prejudice at home,” he said. His comments were echoed by NSW Premier Chris Minns: “It is unacceptable, un-Australian, and it will not be tolerated. The NSW Police have stood up Strike Force Mylor to investigate those who participated in this disgraceful behaviour.”

Member for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane noted the rise of anti-Israel vandalism since the first Hamas attack. “The eastern suburbs have endured ongoing acts of vandalism, hate and abuse since October 7 [2023]. This escalation is deeply troubling,” she said.

The attack comes just a little over a month after vandals targeted public structures with Hamas-related graffiti at Bronte, Tamarama and Bondi beaches. Such behaviour has been bubbling since disgraceful scenes 13 months ago when the Sydney Opera House was lit by the Israeli flag and the occasion was hijacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, leading NSW Police to order Jewish people to stay at home.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said there had been a string of cases of anti-Israel and antisemitic graffiti in the eastern suburbs in the past 12 months. “The anti-Israel movement has been growing progressively more extreme, more violent and more indifferent to who it harms,” he said. “We have seen graffiti of this sort around this neighbourhood, we have seen the targeting of Jewish businesses, the scorching of the Jewish MP’s office, and for it to escalate to this point, it’s hardly surprising.”

The Woollahra attack achieves the opposite of the pair’s intentions and risks reducing support and sympathy. But such antisemitism, wherever it appears and whatever form it takes, shames us all.

Antisemitism always hands Adolf Hitler a kind of posthumous victory. But amid the ongoing turmoil and tragedy of the Middle East, the Woollahra graffiti attack has besmirched our city’s reputation for racial tolerance and social harmony and is rightly condemned.

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