Australia synagogue fire condemned as clear act of antisemitism as police search for suspects

By Angus Watson and Jennifer Hauser, CNN

Sydney, Australia (CNN) — Police are searching for two masked suspects after a synagogue was set on fire in southeastern Australia early Friday in an attack condemned by the prime minister as an act of antisemitism.

Worshippers fled from the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne when the blaze took hold around 4 a.m. Friday morning. The synagogue regularly holds overnight prayers.

“There was banging on the door, some liquid was thrown inside and was lit alight. The few people inside the synagogue ran outside the back door. One of them got burned,” said a board member from the synagogue Benjamin Klein, speaking to national broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

“The whole place took alight pretty quickly,” Klein said.

Officers from the Victoria Police Arson and Explosives Squad are investigating what they say was a deliberate attack on one of Australia’s most significant Jewish centers.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Detective Inspector Chris Murray said two figures were seen “spreading an accelerant of some type inside the premises.”

Murray said the attack was “targeted” but stopped short of labeling the alleged arson a terror attack.

“We’re not ruling anything in or out,” Murray said, acknowledging that he was “personally worried” about the rise in antisemitic attacks.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quick to condemn the attack as a clear act of antisemitism.

“It’s a terrible morning to awake to this news which all Australians should unequivocally condemn,” he said during an interview with public broadcaster ABC. “This is an outrage. The violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is something that we should never see in Australia. It’s risk lives, it’s clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.”

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has exacerbated tension between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine groups in Australia, leading Albanese’s government to appoint a Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism and a Special Envoy on Social Cohesion.

Jewish communities across Australia have called out a drastic increase in antisemitic attacks and behavior since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Since then, the government has spent 25 million Australian dollars ($16 million) on increased safety and security at Jewish sites across the country, and has introduced other measures to target religious hate crime.

“There is legislation now before Parliament to criminalize hate speech, including the urging or threatening of force or violence against individuals or groups because of who they are or what they believe, and we’ll continue to be vigilant on this issue,” Albanese detailed Friday.

However, Robert Gregory, CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, said he was “outraged but not at all surprised” by the attack. He said the community had been warning the government about rising antisemitism for over a year and not enough had been done to combat it.

Sarah Schwartz, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, called the fire an “act of disgusting violence” and an attack on the Jewish community.

“No one should be unsafe in a place of worship,” she added.

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