Synagogue burns on worst day of anti-Semitic shame

A general view of the synagogue that was attacked on Friday December 6. Picture: NewsWire/Diego Fedele

Friday’s images of gentle-faced Australian Jews, heartbroken and afraid, looking at the burnt-out shell of their beloved Adass Israel Synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne’s southeast, reveal a horrifying story. It should never have been let unfold on our shores and was reminiscent of more evil, dangerous times in Europe 90 years ago and in earlier centuries. The crime was about religious hate, pure and simple. Not race – the victims are proud Australians. They have lost their place of worship and their community hub.

Yes, the perpetrators who threw accelerant and lit the blaze must be caught and feel the full force of the law, as several political leaders have said. But the real problems, which run far deeper, must be faced and addressed. In a bipartisan stance, opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson and Labor MP for Macnamara Josh Burns joined Jewish leaders to denounce the attack. While good, it was not enough. Anthony Albanese should invite Peter Dutton to stand beside him and do the same to show support for the nation’s Jewish communities, which have suffered torrid abuses since Hamas launched its brutal unprovoked attack in Israel 14 months ago.

Taking such a stand, Chris Kenny writes, would require the Prime Minister to examine his conscience. In the wake of the Ripponlea attack, we heard more words of condemnation from Mr Albanese. But we’ve had enough of worthless words. Too often since October 7, 2023, government leaders have been lukewarm in their reactions to demonstrations of anti-Semitism, drawing irrelevant moral equivalence with Islamophobia that has scarcely surfaced.

Words are not leadership, unlike effective action. Despite countless ugly instances of anti-Semitism, nothing effective has been done, causing a retreat from moral clarity. Hate preachers still rant with impunity. Friday’s attack came after a recent outbreak of vandalism in Sydney’s east. A car was burned and Matt Moran’s restaurant covered with anti-Semitic insults.

More poignantly, the synagogue was burned just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a story reported on Friday’s front page, warned that Australia’s “disappointing” change in its longstanding bipartisan position towards Israel at the UN would “invite more terrorism” and “more anti-Semitic riots” on Western campuses and city centres, “including in Australia”. His understanding of the dynamics of anti-Semitism was pinpoint accurate.

Australia’s change of position, for which Mr Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are responsible, was not promised or foreshadowed before the 2022 election. Neither has it been explained or discussed with Australians. On Wednesday, Australia voted in favour of Israel withdrawing its “unlawful presence” from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The resolution also called for a conference in June 2025 in New York to chart an “irreversible pathway” ­towards a Palestinian state. Important details about what that would entail, who would lead such a state and whether conditions were right for such a development are vague, however, with no foundation for a difficult, complex process. As Mr Netanyahu said, Palestinian Authority leaders have not denounced the October 7 atrocities. It was a shame, he said, “that the current Australian government wants to award these savages with a state”.

Rather than focusing on the Melbourne attack, Senator Wong doubled down on Friday, insisting the Jewish state could not punish Palestinian civilians for the actions of Hamas. It is Hamas, however, that puts civilians on the frontline, basing itself in hospitals, schools and residential areas to misuse Palestinians for propaganda purposes. Senator Wong’s refusal to condemn the International Criminal Court for its arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu also reflected poorly on the government’s attitude to Israel at the time of its greatest need since 1948. Labor, to its shame, has weaponised the issue for political gain. Industry Minister Ed Husic, the party’s most senior Muslim member, revealed the realpolitik when he urged Muslims in Labor seats – such as Blaxland (Education Minister Jason Clare’s electorate), Watson (held by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke) and Werriwa in western Sydney – to stick with the party. His pitch pointed to bad moves: “particular advocacy within the UN and the international community, the way we’ve worked with others, particularly around ceasefire, the most recent efforts we’ve made in terms of Palestinian sovereignty”.

As Jews begin to replace the holy books and Torah scrolls destroyed and police hunt the terrorist arsonists, December 6 must be a turning point. Governments, belatedly, need to recognise why Jews are living in fear, their children cased in iron-clad security as they move to and from school. This is not what Holocaust survivors and their families found in Australia after World War II. Some, sadly, are thinking of leaving. A quagmire of hate opened up after October 7 as the existential war forced on Israel unfolded. Unless the terrorist foothold is expunged, the wider community will suffer.

Social cohesion has broken down, Josh Frydenberg writes in an open letter to Mr Albanese. Anti-Semitism has been normalised: “So toxic has our environment become, one of our most distinguished Australians, former governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove, has felt the need to say ‘Hitler would be proud’. … Prime Minister, what will it take for the penny to drop?”