Finger-pointing and blame: The ugly attempts to gain votes from a terror event

If the aim of terrorism is to use violence to change the political narrative, then the three offenders who set fire to a Ripponlea synagogue on a Friday morning succeeded.

And if the aim of our political leaders is to provide a calm and united front during a crisis, then they have failed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Adass Israel synagogue last Tuesday.Credit: Justin McManus

Instead of showing a wall of solidarity to the Jewish community, we have looked to shift blame and point the finger.

To make it clear, attempts to gain votes from a terror event are a form of political looting.

The terrorists could not possibly have dreamed that their reprehensible actions using inflammatory liquids would have sparked an idiotic and inflammatory response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has tried to link Australia’s UN voting record on Middle East matters to the attack.

His opportunistic own goal that increased political tensions between Israel and Australia actually encourages terrorism. If a fire that damaged property, not people, can create this sort of international impact, then what is next?

It is incontrovertible that the scattergun and at-times hysterical response has heightened the terrorist risk because of the increased likelihood of copy-cat attacks such as the burning of a car and the daubing of racist slogans in Sydney just days after the Melbourne synagogue fire.

Fire and bombs are part of the standard armoury of terrorists, whose causes are usually so unpopular they have to descend into hate.

After the launch of Operation Desert Storm against Iraq in 1991, six Sydney synagogues were firebombed and two young offenders were found with 500 kilograms of gelignite, intending to obliterate another place of worship.

Greek churches, mosques, synagogues, courts, embassies, statues, buildings of significance, and politicians’ offices have all been targeted.

People laying flowers at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea last week.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

Some terrorists found their ambitions exceeded their abilities such as the pair who in 1986 placed a car bomb under the Turkish embassy in Melbourne. When one primed the device, it went off prematurely. The only identifiable parts of the bomber that were found were his two feet, still in their shoes. In both legal and physical terms, he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

Looked at rationally, the Ripponlea fire is a terrorist act, but nothing new. In just over 20 years, beginning in 1971, there were nine firebombings of Greek, Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox churches, which in one case involved the stabbing of a caretaker.

The first thing to acknowledge is that the synagogue arson is not just an attack on the Jewish community, but also on the rule of law and therefore an attack on all of us.

Imagine if the prime minister and the leader of the opposition had stood side by side at the ruins and pledged a united response instead of showing that such attacks create cracks in more than just bricks and mortar. Imagine if the federal government committed to help rebuild any terrorist target, whether it be a synagogue or mosque.

John Howard took then-opposition leader Kim Beazley and Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot with him to visit Port Arthur after the 1996 massacre.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

You may think this is a Pollyanna view of a hard world. But John Howard had been prime minister for only a couple of weeks when Australia’s worst mass shooting happened at Port Arthur in April 1996, with 35 people shot dead and a further 23 wounded.

Howard flew to Tasmania, taking Labor leader Kim Beazley and Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot to attend services and lay a wreath.

At a doorstop press conference after the memorial, he said: “This is an event that utterly transcends any political differences. No one side of politics has a mortgage on compassion and concern for human suffering and I just wanted to express as best I could my sorrow and that of my colleagues and of the entire Australian nation.”

Statesmen versus snake oil salesmen.

Howard, with Beazley’s support, united the federal parliament and won over the states for the most effective gun reforms in Australia’s history − virtually ending mass shootings in this country.

Meaningful reform versus meaningless sound grabs.

But it is always harder to climb mountains than it is to toboggan to the bottom.

We have a specialist investigative team dealing with the synagogue arson attack, and when there are arrests, we have a criminal code and a system of justice well-equipped to deal with the offenders.

Police at the scene of the firebombing in Ripponlea.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

The only snipers near a terrorist event should be armed police lying down atop adjacent buildings, not politicians doing standups at the bottom. We are told it is all about the optics. No, it’s about the evidence.

For some reason, the most urgent issue in the immediate aftermath was to declare this a terrorist attack, even before the arson chemists had finished examining the crime scene, but that is the modern way. Outrage is more important than outcomes. Isn’t the end game about catching the offenders rather than catching headlines?

The state and federal governments are not responsible for this crime. Peaceful pro-Palestine demonstrators are not responsible. Allowing people to have their say (not including hate speech or incitement to commit crimes) actually reduces the risk of violence.

Terrorists are responsible for this crime. They should be found, arrested, convicted, jailed and – if non-Australian citizens – deported.

Chaim Klein carrying a Torah scroll from Adass Israel synagogue after the fire.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

I am not on Israel’s side, nor Palestine’s side. I am on the side of the law.

To label those who criticise the planks of Israel’s policy and actions as antisemitic is to encourage groupthink and discourage freedom of speech.

To fail to call out and prosecute antisemitic behaviour is to disrespect democracy.

We have a section of our community that feels targeted and vulnerable. We have Jewish businesses, schools, families and individuals who now feel they need private security to be safe.

Terror on its own rarely works. It is the response that decides the outcome. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked the Great War. The September 11 terror attacks sparked two wars. And the German blitz on London failed because people refused to be defined by it.

If we fail to listen to the fears of the Jewish community, descend into political name-calling or demonise ethnic or religious groups rather than the criminals who trade in destruction, who wins?

One of the key aims of terrorists is to create social divisions. Look at the headlines. Who’s laughing now?

In January 2017, a man in a car being followed by police in a slow pursuit turned left into the Bourke Street Mall and accelerated, mowing down pedestrians, killing six and injuring 37. It was shocking and unimaginable.

The response was individual bravery, immediate assistance to the injured, solid community compassion, an objective inquest into police procedures, strengthening of city security including bollards to reduce the risk of similar attacks, a trial and a conviction.

A family enjoying this year’s Myer Christmas windows.Credit: Chris Hopkins

This week, at the same scene, hundreds of families quietly queued to look at the Myer Christmas windows with a spirit of patience and goodwill.

There is a lot to be said for staying calm and just carrying on.

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.