Sydney Jews decry ‘Sanction Israel’ banner hung at Great Synagogue as ‘antisemitism’
Jewish community group calls incident ‘pure, unadulterated antisemitism,’ antithetical to Australian life; prominent human rights lawyer denounces ‘unhinged Jew-hatred’
Anti-Israel activists hung a large banner reading “Sanction Israel” across the entrance of the Great Synagogue in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.
Jewish leaders condemned the act as despicable antisemitism.
“Let’s be clear — targeting a synagogue is pure, unadulterated antisemitism which is intended to have a chilling and intimidating effect on members of the Synagogue and the Jewish community more broadly,” the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a post on X.
“Despicable conduct such as this is completely antithetical to our Australian way of life. Places of worship are sacred and should be places of safety, refuge and comfort,” it added.
Located in the heart of Sydney, the Great Synagogue was built in 1878, making it the oldest Jewish place of worship in the city.
Synagogue president David Lewis told J-Wire that he was “shocked and disappointed” by the act.
“To see a place that is so pivotal for the Sydney Jewish community being deliberately targeted by protesters and damaged through acts of vandalism is not only upsetting; it is totally unacceptable,” he said.
Today, another line was crossed when Sydney’s oldest synagogue – The Great Synagogue – was vandalised.
The Synagogue has continuously operated in its current location since 1878 as a testament to the vibrancy of Jewish life in Sydney and Australia.
Over the past nine months,… pic.twitter.com/eXHjYoT3de
— NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (@NSWJBD) July 14, 2024
He added that any faith’s place of worship “is not a place where it is appropriate to promote a political agenda or be targeted for protests. No matter the political climate, our community deserves to feel safe within our place of worship without fear.”
Prominent international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky described how he felt targeted by the banner, including because of the personal significance of the synagogue.
“This is deeply personal,” Ostrovsky wrote in a post. “This was my Synagogue in Sydney, The Great Synagogue, the oldest in Australia, where I had my Bar-Mitzvah & went for High Holidays. To target a place of worship in such manner, with a political attack on Israel, is repugnant & just unhinged Jew-hatred.”
Antisemitism has risen in Australia since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
A few days after the unprecedented onslaught, Jewish Australians who were holding a vigil outside the Sydney Opera House were faced with antisemitic pro-Palestinian protesters who chanted “F*** the Jews” and “Gas the Jews,” although law enforcement later claimed that they were chanting, “Where’re the Jews” and not “Gas the Jews.”
Amid the surge in antisemitic incidents, details from a private WhatsApp group that formed in the aftermath of October 7, consisting of hundreds of Jewish Australians, were made public in February by Australian author and commentator Clementine Ford, among others.
In a story that shocked the country, members of the 600-strong group were doxxed, received abusive messages and one family had to go into hiding after receiving death threats.
Recent statistics revealed that Australia saw a 700 percent rise in antisemitism after October 7 and that nine months later, the country was still seeing rates 400%-500% higher than before the war in Gaza began.
In an effort to combat the spike in antisemitism, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appointed an envoy last week to deal with the issue, as well as an envoy to address Islamaphobia.
Jillian Segal, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, will serve as the antisemitism envoy for three years and will work with communities and Albanese to decrease the stark rise of antisemitism in Australia.
AP and JTA’s Ron Kampeas contributed to this report.
