In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a daycare center in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was set on fire, while antisemitic graffiti was discovered nearby, marking the latest in a troubling series of antisemitic acts in Australia, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Security footage captured the moment flames engulfed the Only About Children childcare center on Storey Street in Maroubra. The fire broke out shortly before 1:00 a.m. local time. When emergency services arrived, they found the words “[Curse] the Jews” scrawled in black paint on a nearby wall.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews managed to extinguish the flames, but the building suffered severe damage. Fortunately, the daycare center was unoccupied at the time, and no injuries were reported.
Although the center does not have ties to the Jewish community, it is situated close to Maroubra Synagogue and Mt Sinai College, an Orthodox Jewish school and preschool, noted The Sydney Morning Herald.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns condemned the attack and spoke about the rise in antisemitic incidents across the country, which he said have become increasingly sophisticated and dangerous.
“I don’t believe antisemitism, antisemitic attacks, begin and end with a firebombing or a graffiti attack. I think it begins with language,” Minns stated. “It is completely disgusting, and these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police. It breaks your heart that we have animals in our city that are prepared to burn down a childcare center to make this point.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also visited the site of the attack on Tuesday morning and denounced the incident in strong terms.
“Childcare centers are places of joy and harmony … what we saw overnight, in the middle of the night, with this attack, is the latest in a series of antisemitic hate crimes,” Albanese said. “This is a place for children and families, and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime.”
Rabbi Goldstein of Maroubra Synagogue shared his sadness over the event but emphasized the community’s determination to remain strong.
“We’re not terrified, we’re just saddened that this can happen in such a peaceful and beautiful part of Sydney. Many people … have young families here and young children to go to the schools here, and it’s just so shocking that it would happen in such a peaceful area,” he said. The synagogue has plans to rally the community to provide support for the daycare center.
“We as Jewish people … show strength and courage in the face of darkness and hatred, we bring light, peace and love, and we join together as a community,” Rabbi Goldstein added.
Simone Abel, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s head of legal, suggested that the attackers may have mistaken the daycare for a Jewish institution. She described the event as “a wake-up call” for Australians.
“Unfortunately, antisemitism is a disease, and it spreads,” Abel said. “[These attacks] are a prelude of what’s to come.”
She expressed support for Prime Minister Albanese’s announcement of a national cabinet to tackle these incidents but criticized the delay in addressing the problem. “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen the kind of response that we’ve needed to see earlier on,” she said.
This attack adds to a growing number of antisemitic acts in Australia, which have surged since the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel.
Earlier in December, Melbourne’s Adass Israel Shul was firebombed in what authorities are treating as a terrorist act.
In a separate event, a car was set ablaze, and two properties were defaced with anti-Israel graffiti in Woollahra, a Sydney suburb with a significant Jewish population.
Other recent incidents include antisemitic graffiti reading “[Curse] the Jews” spray-painted on a car in Sydney and vandalism targeting the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah.
Additionally, red swastikas were spray-painted across the front wall of the Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west last Saturday, further underscoring the troubling rise in hate-fueled attacks.
{Matzav.com}