Melbourne synagogue hit by arson attack, scuffles in CBD

Police are investigating an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue carried out while about 20 people, including children, were having a Shabbat dinner inside the place of worship.

The latest anti-semitic attack punctuated what appeared to be a coordinated night of anti-Israel protests in central Melbourne which has left Jewish people fearing for their safety.

Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Phillip Zajac told this masthead that a lone arsonist used fuel to torch the front doors of the East Melbourne Synagogue in Albert Street, East Melbourne at about 8pm.

A local fire brigade responded quickly and contained the fire, which caused only superficial damage to the bluestone building and heavy timber doors. The attack was captured on CCTV.

Zajac said the attack needed to be quickly condemned by Premier Jacinta Allan and the perpetrator identified and prosecuted.

“I don’t know what the government can do but there have to be consequences for people who do things like this,” he said. “Lighting a place of worship is just dreadful.

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“The Premier needs to come out with a strong statement condemning this. We expect her to shout it from the rooftops that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and the perpetrator will be found and will face charges.

“A place of worship has got nothing to do with the Middle East dispute. This has really gotten to me. I don’t know what to say.”

The attack follows the firebombing last December which gutted the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea. No charges have been laid in that attack despite Victorian and federal police launching a joint taskforce investigation into the suspected terror attack.

The East Melbourne synagogue, founded just six years after Victoria was established as a colony, is known as the city shul and is the only Jewish place of worship in central Melbourne.

The front doors of the synagogue were locked at the time of the attack, which was after traditional shabbat prayers.

Worshippers were eating in a dining area near the rear of the building when the fire was lit.

The Herald Sun reported that across Melbourne’s CBD, masked, pro-Palestine protesters entered a Jewish restaurant at about 8.30pm chanting “Death to the IDF”, the catch-cry which British punk band Bob Vylan chanted from the stage at last weekend’s Glastonbury Festival.

The same chant was heard in Melbourne’s Bourke Street mall during last Sunday’s regular anti-Israel protest.

Last month, vandals targeted a historic synagogue in South Yarra.

Attackers used red paint to scrawl “Free Palestine” and “Iran is Da Bomb”, set inside the outline of a nuclear mushroom cloud, on the heritage-listed synagogue.

There were no religious services or activities at the synagogue at the time.

Graffiti left on the synagogue in South Yarra on Sunday afternoon.

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