Sydney MPs, Jewish leaders condemn ‘grotesque’ Hitler posters

The posters have appeared across traffic signs and road infrastructure around Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which is home to a large Jewish community.

A Hitler poster seen in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

High-profile Sydney MPs and Jewish leaders have condemned “grotesque” posters that appeared across the city’s eastern suburbs and CBD overnight, depicting Adolf Hitler removing a Benjamin Netanyahu mask.

The posters appeared across traffic signs and road infrastructure around Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which is home to a large Jewish community.

They depict Nazi leader Hitler removing a mask of Israeli prime minister Mr Netanyahu, of which NSW Police confirmed they were investigating who, or which group of people, were behind it.

The posters were slammed by Jewish community leaders.

“The individuals who put up these sinister posters knew exactly what they were doing, choosing images that would inflict maximum trauma and placed them in the heart of Sydney’s Jewish community,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said.

“It is devastating to recognise that Holocaust survivors and their descendants would have this morning confronted prominent images of Hitler as they undertook their normal activities.”

Mr Ossip encouraged people of goodwill to “speak out immediately and make clear there would be no tolerance for such hatred”.

A Hitler poster hung in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin slammed those political leaders who had “legitimised”, or even attended, the weekly Sydney CBD pro-Palestine rallies, “where Nazi comparisons and Holocaust inversion are routine”.

“It (the poster) is intended to intimidate and harass Jewish Australians, many of whom are Holocaust survivors or their descendants,” Mr Ryvchin said.

“But if these thugs and cretins want to know who resembles Hitler in the context of the war with Hamas, they should look to the savages who went house to house hunting Jews with sadistic pride, raping, torturing and burning alive.”

Both the area’s state and federal MPs were equally unequivocal in their condemnation.

The Jewish community has been facing daily acts of antisemitism and race hate – this has taken it to a whole new level,” NSW Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane said.

“These targeted attacks on Sydney’s Jewish community must stop and the full force of the law must be applied to those who practise or incite race hate.”

Federal Wentworth MP Allegra Spender called the posters “appaling”.

“We must not let events overseas harm the achievements of our rich and respectful multicultural society.,” she said.

“Many in our Jewish community have told me they feel scared to be openly Jewish in our streets. That is heartbreaking for us all – no matter what your faith. We must all stand for compassion and empathy, and stand up against fear and intimidation.”