Residents shocked following anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney community

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TRANSCRIPT
Residents from the neighbourhood of Woollahra in eastern Sydney say they’re shocked after finding messages of profanity vandalised on their cars – directed at the state of Israel.
“Unbelievable. We’ve lived here for 35 years this is our lovely hospital opposite, it’s a peaceful street, and that’s the last thing in the world I would expect.”
New South Wales Police say two people were captured on CCTV spraying offensive slogans on more than a dozen vehicles in Wellington Street in Woollahra.
Emergency services were initially called to the scene at 12:30am following reports a car was on fire.
The door of a unit complex in the street was also targeted.
Authorities have estimated there is up to $80,000 worth of damage to the vehicles and potentially $20,000-$30,000 in property damage.
Detective Acting Superintendent Adam Solah says police are undertaking a strike force investigation to understand the motivation of the incident.
“Two persons were depicted on CCTV running away from Wellington street after the fire. At this stage it’s too early to ascertain for why the graffiti was sprayed onto those vehicles and houses so that will again form part of our line of inquiry.”
The Jewry Council of Australia has called for more decisive police and political action.
Co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin says this is an incident which has affected both Jewish and non-Jewish people.
“Not surprising, and extremism and terrorism has always had multiple victims. It always affects society as a whole. So while their primary villain and narrative might be the Jewish community and the state of Israel, ultimately it’s all the Australians suffering from it.”
As the clean-up begins, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the incident is an act of anti-semitism and they are disturbing scenes deeply troubling to all Australians.
Members from both major parties have joined in condemning the incident.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says acts like this need to stop.
“What we have seen in Sydney is completely and absolutely unacceptable. We completely condemn all forms of violence and hate speech. Anti-semitism has no place in Australia and this sort of outrageous behaviour needs to stop.”
Also a concern is the display of “PKK is coming” – a possible reference to the Kurdish separatist group of the same name known as the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is classified as a terrorist organisation in Australia.
Liberal Senator Dave Sharma says he’s never seen anything like it.
“What we’ve seen in Australia over these last 14 months has tested our nation in a way I’ve never seen it tested in my lifetime and it’s important we all cooperate to put this environment behind us and put it back in the bottle where it belongs.”
This comes as an annual report by the Scanlon Foundation found social cohesion in Australia is at a 17-year low, with the economy, housing, immigration and conflicts overseas all impacting communities in Australia.
Around 8,000 people were surveyed for the index, which measures social cohesion in five different areas – worth, social justice and inclusion, acceptance, belonging, and political participation.
It’s found the vast majority Australians still view multiculturalism favourably despite growing concern about the number of new arrivals.
Attitudes towards religion across all major faith groups is becoming more negative, including towards Jewish and Muslim people, in part due to the war in Gaza.
President of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Adel Salman, says the last year has been challenging.
He says politicians impacted people’s views on Arab and Muslim people.
“They’ve actually stoked anti immigrant sentiments, anti Muslim, anti Arab, anti Palestinian sentiment. And that is really, I think, impacted the Muslim community, the Arab community, the Palestinian community, who feel, I guess, a lack of inclusivity, and a real sense of not belonging here in Australia.”