Australia reels from hate crimes enflamed by Middle East tensions

 

FILE – This frame grab taken from video footage provided by the Australian Broadcast Corporation on December 11, 2024 shows a police officer walking past a torched car being removed in front of anti-Israel graffiti written on a wall in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra.

SYDNEY —

Australian authorities are responding to a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes.

Australian police said offensive graffiti that demeaned Islam was found under a bridge in the Sydney suburb of Sefton on Sunday.

The New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns said “this racism and Islamophobia is disgusting and corrosive to the very fabric” of multiculturalism.

Sefton is a majority-Muslim district. Official data shows that a third of residents follow Islam.

Jason Clare, the federal education minister, told reporters Monday that all racism needed to be confronted.

“We need to condemn this and all forms of racism right across the country," Clare said. "We are the best country in the world and one of the reasons for that is because we are made up of people from all around the world, all different religions living here in harmony, and this is just the absolute opposite of that.”

Jewish groups have also condemned the anti-Islamic graffiti, insisting that the “hateful” incident would be distressing for the whole community.

Muslim leaders, though, have said similar hate crimes targeting the Islamic community have not been taken seriously by Australia’s politicians.

Gamal Kheir, secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday that the authorities had to do more.

“There is an underlying racist element, whether that be antisemitic, Islamophobic or any other form of racism, that is not being addressed and we (are) calling on government to stop making this a political football where politicians (are) trying to politically point-score, and resolve the problem," Kheir said.

Australian police are also investigating another antisemitic hate attack. Earlier this month, a vehicle was set alight and properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney.

The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has set up a new task force to tackle antisemitic crimes following a recent arson attack on a synagogue in Melbourne.

Police are treating the firebombing as a likely terror attack.

Earlier this year, the Canberra government created special antisemitic and Islamophobia community envoys to help curb a rise in hate crimes linked to conflict in the Middle East.

Community groups have reported an increase in Islamophobic and antisemitic abuse in Australia since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023.

A police investigation into anti-Islamic graffiti in Sydney is continuing.

 

By：VOA