The Australian prime minister has denounced the “evil presence” behind a suspected anti-Semitic firebombing as a Jewish leader urges decisive action to stamp out hate after the Bondi massacre.<\/p>\n
Detectives in Melbourne are investigating a suspicious fire outside a local rabbi’s house in St Kilda East about 2.50am on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
Police said no one was inside the car, which had a Hanukkah-related sign on its roof, but the occupants of the house were evacuated as a precaution.<\/p>\n
Detectives have identified a person who might be able to assist with their inquiries.<\/p>\n
The Jewish protection group CSG Victoria noted the presence on the car of the chanukiah symbol, a nine-branched candelabrum associated with Hanukkah celebrations.<\/p>\n
It confirmed no community members had been hurt in the incident and it remained in close contact with police.<\/p>\n
“CSG has already been operating at a heightened level with increased patrols and will continue to do so,” the group said in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n
The latest incident showed what life was like for Australian Jews when hatred was allowed to spread, Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said.<\/p>\n
“If it is not mass murder of 15 people, it’s the firebombing of a car,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It is a miracle no one was killed. We should not confuse luck with safety.<\/p>\n
“This is the same sickness and evil moving forward and sending a message to the Jewish community: don’t be visible, don’t celebrate, don’t exist openly.”<\/p>\n
Abramovich pressed for a royal commission into anti-Semitism, echoing calls from other Jewish leaders and the opposition after the Bondi massacre, during which 15 people were killed by Islamic State-inspired gunmen targeting Hanukkah celebrations.<\/p>\n
‘Beyond comprehension’<\/p>\n
Albanese said the apparent firebombing attack was “beyond comprehension”, adding that all governments were working to root out anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n
“What sort of evil ideology and thoughts at a time like this would motivate someone? We know that there is evil presence,” he told reporters at a Christmas lunch event.<\/p>\n
“Christmas is a time of hope. Hope over fear is what we need. Bravery over cowardice, kindness over violence and togetherness over anti-Semitism and hate.”<\/p>\n
State and federal governments have been under pressure to respond forcefully to anti-Semitism after the shootings at Bondi Beach, Australia’s deadliest terror attack.<\/p>\n
Federal Labor has flagged hate speech reforms and an overhaul of ministerial powers to cancel or reject visas for anyone sowing division or potentially inciting violence.<\/p>\n
But the Albanese government has resisted pressure to call a royal commission after the Bondi massacre, instead backing a NSW inquiry and prioritising a quicker but more limited review of intelligence and law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n
The Victorian government has also promised a crackdown on hate crimes and plans to grant police the power to veto protests following designated terror attacks in a move that will move similar legislation rapidly introduced in NSW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian prime minister has denounced the “evil presence” behind a suspected anti-Semitic firebombing as a Jewish leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,550,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-200988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-social-issues","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}