11 hours Ago By Neve Brissenden
MPs from across the political divide have sounded the alarm over increasing acts of anti-Semitism after anti-Israel slogans were spray-painted on a series of cars and buildings. Login or signup to continue reading Police were called to Wellington St in Woollahra just before 1am on Thursday morning after reports of a vehicle on fire. The well-heeled suburb is in Sydney's east, which is home to a large Jewish population.
After extinguishing the blaze, police discovered another nine cars parked along multiple surrounding streets had been defaced with graffiti. Painted slogans included "f*** Israel" and "PKK coming". PKK is an abbreviation for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, considered a terrorist group by the Turkish and Australian governments.
The vandalised vehicles were parked in streets surrounding the Turkish consulate. Police said two people wearing black clothing and masks had been captured by CCTV running away from the scene but no one had been identified or arrested. Detective acting Superintendent Adam Solah said the damage bill could be more than $100,000.
"It is brazen, it is offensive (and) disgusting behaviour that's against community standards," he told reporters. "These are people's houses that they live in. These are people's cars.
" Locals were seen cleaning their cars with acetone-free nail-polish remover on Thursday morning. "I did lots of googling but this seems to be the only way that's working," one resident told AAP. Officials from all levels and sides of politics have condemned the vandalism, labelling the attacks anti-Semitic.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the incident was "deeply troubling". "There is no place for anti-Semitism in Australia, conflict overseas cannot be made a platform for prejudice at home," he said. NSW Premier Chris Minns also condemned the acts.
"It is unacceptable, un-Australian, and it will not be tolerated," he said. Local federal MP Allegra Spender said her community "won't be intimidated". "Australians care about having a country that is welcoming to everyone of all faiths, backgrounds and sexualities, we will not be intimidated by fringe groups who want to try and divide us," she said.
In a show of unity, Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns joined forces with Liberal senator Dave Sharma to call out the behaviour. Mr Burns said since Israel's war in Gaza began and tensions escalated across the Middle East, Jewish Australians were feeling targeted. "The sort of incidents that we're seeing against the Jewish community is escalating and intensifying," he said.
"Last night would have made a lot of people in the Jewish community right around the country feel extremely unsafe." Mr Sharma said he was pleased to learn NSW police had set up a strike force to investigate the incident. "There are legitimate forms of political protests, there are legitimate forms of freedom of expression, this is not one of those," he said.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced the vast majority of the enclave's population, according to Palestinian officials. The war followed Hamas's attack on Israel, which left 1200 people dead and 250 more taken hostage. Australian Associated Press DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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