By Jessica McSweeney, Amber Schultz and Max Maddison
Warning: Graphic content
An antisemitic attack on a childcare centre in Sydney’s east has been labelled “evil” and a potential act of terror after the building was set alight and graffitied with an offensive slogan, prompting furious community leaders to warn it was a “wake-up call” and a prelude to further violence.
Premier Chris Minns has vowed to round up the “bastards” who torched the Only About Children childcare centre on Storey Street in Maroubra just before 1am on Tuesday in the latest antisemitic attack to blight Sydney.
Video of the centre ablaze showed the words “f--- the Jews” sprayed in black paint on a wall. The building was unoccupied at the time, and there were no injuries
It’s unclear whether the multifaith facility was the intended target of the antisemitic attack. It was owned by an eastern suburbs Jewish family until 2023, and it is situated near Maroubra Synagogue and Mount Sinai College – an Orthodox Jewish school and preschool.
Detectives combed the area on Tuesday morning, with an accelerant detection dog brought in to sniff the crime scene.
Rosa Cianci, who lives opposite the centre, said she heard several loud voices followed by a bang. “It was like a bomb went off,” she said.
“The whole house was lit up like a Christmas tree. There’s usually no problems around here.”
Lara Wood brought her five-year-old son Jonah, who has been attending the centre for the past year, to assess the damage. She lifted him onto her shoulders to get a better view.
“I explained to him what happened. He said he was scared but wanted to come to see for himself,” she said.
Lara Wood took her five-year-old son Jonah Wood to assesses the damage at his child care centre.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Jonah said he could see “three broken windows” from his vantage point. He is due to start primary school this week, but many families have been left scrambling to find alternative care.
Only About Children chief executive Anna Learmonth confirmed the centre would remain closed until further notice.
“We’re shocked and horrified to see the damage that’s occurred,” she said. “The entire community is on alert.”
Catch the ‘bastards’
There have been at least nine major antisemitic incidents in Sydney since the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks. Three attacks – one in Dover Heights on Friday, and two incidents in Woollahra, have involved cars being doused in flammable liquid before being set alight. An accelerant was also used in an attack on a Newtown synagogue.
In October, two buildings at Bondi Beach, including a kosher restaurant, were also set alight.
The Maroubra centre was visited by the NSW premier and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday morning.
Minns said antisemitic attacks in Sydney were becoming more sophisticated and dangerous.
“It is completely disgusting, and these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police,” he said. “It breaks your heart that we have animals in our city that are prepared to burn down a childcare centre to make this point.”
He said police would consider designating the incident as a terrorist offence if extra resources and power were needed to investigate it.
“Police will not hesitate to make that designation if they believe it’s appropriate to conduct the investigation,” he said.
The prime minster said he “utterly condemned this evil hate crime”.
“Childcare centres are places of joy and harmony … what we saw overnight, in the middle of the night, with this attack, is the latest in a series of antisemitic hate crimes,” Albanese said.
“This is a place for children and families, and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime.”
Police Commissioner Karen Webb announced an additional 20 investigators for Strike Force Pearl in response to the attack, effectively doubling their number. Pearl was set up to investigate rising cases of antisemitic attacks in Sydney.
Patrols around significant Jewish sites and place of worship across Sydney had also been stepped up, she said.
‘Wake-up call’
Rabbi Goldstein from the Maroubra Synagogue couldn’t say whether his nearby synagogue was the intended target of the attack.
He said the community refused to be scared, and would come together to support the centre and each other.
“We’re not terrified, we’re just saddened that this can happen in such a peaceful and beautiful part of Sydney. Many people ... have young families here and young children to go to the schools here, and it’s just so shocking that it would happen in such a peaceful area,” he said.
“We as Jewish people ... show strength and courage in the face of darkness and hatred, we bring light, peace and love, and we join together as a community.”
Members of Fire and Rescue’s investigation unit with an accelerant detection dog at the Only About Children childcare centre.Credit: Kate Geraghty
However, head of legal at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Simone Abel had “no doubt” the attack on the multifaith daycare centre was a case of mistaken identity.
“It’s a wake-up call to the Australian community at large because, unfortunately, antisemitism is a disease, and it spreads,” she said.
“[These attacks] are a prelude of what’s to come.”
She said the council welcomed the news of a national cabinet, announced by the prime minister on Tuesday morning in response to the attacks, but said there was a sense of frustration it had taken so long.
“We haven’t seen the kind of response that we needed to see earlier on,” she said.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the incident was the latest in a “domestic terrorism” campaign.
“These depraved and cowardly terrorists need to be swiftly apprehended, or we will continue to see an escalation of these acts of terror.”
Last week, the former home of prominent Jewish Australian Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin was targeted in a firebombing.
Two vehicles were set ablaze, multiple vehicles were painted with antisemitic graffiti, and the Dover Heights home was splashed with red paint.
Upon seeing images of the burnt-out childcare centre on Tuesday morning, Ryvchin said families may no longer feel safe sending their children to daycare.
“To plan and execute the firebombing of a childcare centre requires a depth of savagery that is difficult to imagine. Today, families will be having conversations about whether it’s safe to send their children to the places where they should be safest,” he said.
“Places of worship, homes and now preschools have all been targeted by domestic terrorists. Antisemitism consumes everything. It is the disease that is destroying our country.”
Police have so far charged eight people in connection with antisemitic arson attacks across Sydney. This includes an alleged arson attack on the Curly Lewis Brewing Company at Bondi Beach, the Continental Kitchen in Bondi, and two incidents in Woollahra.
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