Hate crimes darken mood in Melbourne

A shul door is set alight as 20 community members sit eating Shabbat dinner inside. Just minutes later, Miznon, a partially Israeli-owned restaurant is stormed by pro-Palestinian supporters chanting “death to the IDF”, throwing chairs and tables, smashing a glass door, and causing chaos. These are just two of multiple antisemitic incidents that rocked Melbourne this past weekend, 4 to 6 July.

In another incident, five hooded vandals set cars alight and spray-painted graffiti at Lovitt Technologies Australia, a weapons company with links to Israel, early on Saturday morning. Early on Sunday morning, antisemitic graffiti was spray-painted on a vegetarian restaurant and a nearby wall opposite the Melbourne Holocaust Museum. No link has yet been found between the perpetrators of these various incidents.

“For those born after the Holocaust, the anti-Jewish racism that has swept Australia since 7 October 2023 has been the most all-pervasive and frightening in our lifetime,” says South African expat, Vic Alhadeff. Alhadeff is the former chief executive of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies in Sydney, and the former editor of the Australian Jewish News. “It has been the most sustained epidemic of antisemitism in the history of this community and this country.”

Alhadeff describes the mood in the Jewish community following the latest spate of incidents in Melbourne as “a combination of angst, concern, and frustration”. These feelings, he says, haven’t been evoked only by the incidents themselves. They have arisen because the attacks are seen as “further evidence of the erosion of the respect for difference, which has long been a hallmark of this country’s multicultural ethos”.

The East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, whose congregants escaped through a back entrance when the front door went up in flames just after 20:00 on Friday, 4 July, represents this open-minded ethos. South African expat, writer, actress, comedienne, and director, Gilda Blacher, who regularly attends the Chabad-affiliated shul, says it is welcoming to everyone. The shul, originally established in 1857, has been in its current premises since 1877. It is near the inner city, which has a largely artsy and hipster community and is across the river from more predominantly Jewish suburbs, she says.

“We have extreme ‘lefties’ who may very well be on the anti-Zionist marches,” she says. “We have conservative Jews, many gay couples, hipsters, and lots of visiting students at universities in Melbourne. It’s the kind of shul where the doors are always open, and it is completely apolitical. The rabbi, Dovid Gutnick, and his wife, Rachel, are non-judgemental and open to the most diverse range of people you can imagine.”

The nature of the shul makes the shock about its targeting that much more profound, says Blacher. “The biggest shock for me isn’t only the desecration of a building with such a long history, but that this person knowingly tried to burn down the shul with people inside. He had no idea that there was a back entrance offering an escape. The fact that you could do that is horrifying.”

The conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism is becoming increasingly apparent and alarming, Blacher says. “We’re clearly not a Zionist building. We’re a Jewish building. The predominant feeling among Jews is increasing marginalisation.” She says the attack, coupled with the other antisemitic incidents over the weekend, have changed the mood in Melbourne. This is especially true of community members living outside of traditional Jewish areas whom, she says, had never truly felt fear of antisemitism.

The attack on Miznon, a trendy, Middle Eastern fusion restaurant attracting multicultural clientele in Melbourne’s city centre, compounded the shock, Blacher says. “You would not, in a million years, expect people to go up this busy laneway and march into a restaurant and terrify people, Jews and non-Jews.” Yet as proof of the inherent multicultural spirit of Australia, those working at a Lebanese-owned restaurant opposite immediately came to the aid of the staff at Miznon. They blocked the entrance, and protected the staff as tomatoes – used as table decorations – were thrown at them.

Nonetheless, Blacher says the discourse in Australia is toxic. “It’s divisive, it’s binary, and you reach that point where you think, ‘Do I hide the chai I wear? Do I tell my daughter not to tell anybody at university that she’s Jewish? Do we shuffle quietly into shul, and hope that no-one notices us? Do we retreat into ghettos? What’s the response to this level of absolute hatred?’ Something has shifted for me. I feel vulnerable in a way that I never had before.”

Angelo Loras, a 34-year-old man from Sydney, has since been charged with the arson attack on the shul, and is in police custody. Three perpetrators of the attack at Miznon have also been arrested.

Sarah Newstead, a Joburg-born clinical psychologist who moved to Melbourne six years ago, volunteers with J-United, a grassroots organisation that arranges events supporting Jewish people in Australia and promoting social cohesion. On 5 July, the day following the attack at the shul, she and her family attended the shul for the first time as a show of solidarity.

She is committed to using her voice for the rights of all people to live without fear of discrimination. “I want to show my kids that being Jewish isn’t just a religion, but a way of being in the world,” she says. “Part of that is creating awareness of the need to preserve humanity and hold grey spaces without extremist ideology.”

She says that despite the antisemitic incidents, South African Jewish expats are primarily continuing as normal. Nonetheless, they are frustrated with the government, and are no longer complacent. Having recently worked to educate her community about how members of Parliament in the recent elections were tackling antisemitism, she observes that people are increasingly using their voice. “It’s all about action and moving forward rather than fear,” Newstead says.

Despite the upheaval, Alhadeff says Australia’s Jewish community members are still proud Australians who feel fortunate to be citizens. “A miniscule minority with loud voices is responsible for the malaise,” he said.

Yet, damage has been done. “There’s an urgent imperative for leaders right across civil society to demonstrate courage, principle, and leadership, and call out anti-Jewish racism before it becomes entrenched,” Alhadeff says.

The state of Victoria announced on Monday, 7 July, plans to establish an anti-hate task force, which will meet Jewish community representatives this week.

In an email to congregants following the attack on his shul, Rabbi Gutnick reaffirmed the need to counter darkness with light. “We’re resolved to respond to this attempt to diminish us with redoubled efforts to flourish and expand our positive impact on the community,” he wrote.