Jewish community leaders call for tougher penalties following more antisemitic attacks

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A warning - this next story includes vision of Nazi symbols. Police are investigating another alleged incident of antisemitic graffiti amid calls for tougher penalties

Transcript

00:00There's been several incidents of anti-Semitic behaviour reported to police and widely in

00:07the media in the last couple of days in the inner west of Sydney recently.

00:12Among them, and perhaps most concerningly, a synagogue was daubed with several swastikas

00:16and other anti-Semitic commentary, as well as accelerant, a clear liquid that was present

00:21at the scene and did take a light for a brief period before being extinguished, with police

00:26still investigating that matter.

00:28Then on Monday, police reported that anti-Semitic graffiti was noticed near one of the largest

00:34train stations in the council area.

00:37All of that has led Mayor Darcy Byrne to describe the current situation as a tinderbox with

00:42real fears over the safety of Jewish people in the area.

00:46The situation now is like a tinderbox.

00:48We've seen an attempted firebombing of a synagogue on the weekend, and if we don't act to stamp

00:53this out, it's not just that this is disrespectful or anti-Semitic, it's dangerous.

00:59And we can't wait until someone's hurt.

01:01Elsewhere we've seen interjections at both the state and federal level of politics.

01:06Federal opposition member Julian Leeser says he wants to see people charged with hate crimes,

01:11particularly anti-Semitic commentary, face minimum jail time as a result, as a mandatory

01:17consequence of those offences if convicted.

01:20However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday called on that idea, saying that law enforcement

01:25was largely a responsibility of state and territory jurisdictions, and it wasn't the

01:30place of the federal government here.

01:32However, he did say this kind of conduct, particularly commentary regarding Jewish people

01:38and the invoking of Hitler as well as Nazi symbols, is a disgusting and hateful thing

01:43to occur and only seeks to divide what is otherwise a cohesive society in Australia.

01:49The Australian Federal Police say at the moment there's a hundred open investigations

01:53into reports of attacks of anti-Semitism within the country right now.

01:59Also within New South Wales, counter-terrorism officers are leading several investigations

02:04into anti-Semitic incidents, both here in the inner west and at another synagogue late

02:09last week, which was defaced with swastikas and the invocation of Nazi insignia and regalia.

02:15While it appears local council, state government and federal government all seem to be on the

02:20same page regarding the calls for peace and cohesion, we have seen some developments recently

02:25at the state government level.

02:26Over the weekend, $340,000 was made available to the Jewish Board of Deputies to protect

02:33particular sites, including synagogues, as well as Jewish schools, with extra temporary

02:38security in what the state government believes is a heightened risk period for anti-Semitic

02:43behaviour and attacks.

02:45For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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