Australia hit with more antisemitic graffiti after revelation about discovery of explosives

MELBOURNE, Australia — Three more incidents of antisemitic graffiti have been found across Sydney on Thursday morning, leading Australian political leaders to warn of an escalation in hatred and decry as terrorism explosives found earlier in a trailer on the city’s outskirts.

Law enforcement earlier this month found a list of Jewish targets together with a cache of Powergel — an explosive used in the mining industry — in Sydney’s outer suburb of Dural, state police said Wednesday. The amount uncovered could create a bomb with a blast zone of around 40 meters (130 feet), officers said.

“This represents, undeniably, an escalation in race hatred, race-filled hatred and potential violence in New South Wales,” the state’s Premier Chris Minns tells reporters on Thursday.

News of the discovery — which police chiefs said was leaked to a newspaper, compromising a clandestine investigation — followed months of antisemitic arson, window-smashing and graffiti in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s most populous cities, concentrated in the areas where many Jewish people live. Thursday’s target included a Jewish school.

“It is utterly appalling and shameful,” Minns says. A police investigation into months of such crimes has prompted 10 arrests and Minns expects more.