Australian police say they have launched an investigation into a “suspicious” blaze that broke out before dawn Friday in a Melbourne synagogue, which the country’s prime minister denounces as an antisemitic arson attack.
“No one was injured during the incident and the synagogue sustained significant damage,” Victoria state police say in a statement. Television images show firefighters hosing down the embers through the door of the Addas Israel Synagogue in the suburb of Ripponlea.
“I have zero tolerance for antisemitism. It has absolutely no place in Australia,” says Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “The violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage. The attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.”
“The people involved must be caught and face the full force of the law.”
Albanese also says “this deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation.”
Sky News Australia cites witnesses who say they heard banging on the sy’s door and when they opened it two masked men were dousing the front of the building with gasoline before setting it aflame.
The broadcaster also cites reports saying two people were lightly hurt.
“The firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne appears to be another shocking escalation of the hate that we have seen brazenly displayed on the streets of Melbourne every week for over a year,” says the Zionist Federation of Australia’s head Jeremy Leibler. “No one should be surprised; this violent attack is a direct consequence of words turning into actions. Jew-hatred, left unchecked, endangers all Australians.”
Synagogue member says several congregants were inside praying when the blaze began
A board member of the Adass Israel Synagogue in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea says a few congregants were sitting and praying inside when the fire started.
“They heard loud banging,” Benjamin Klein tells AFP.
Liquid was poured inside the synagogue and set alight, he says.
“If this had happened an hour later, there would have been hundreds of people inside,” Klein says.
The congregants “ran out the back of the synagogue. One man who ran out — his hand got burnt,” he says.
“The fire was extensive,” he tells AFP. “Inside is completely gutted.”
Holy books and furniture had been destroyed, he says, vowing that the community will “rebuild.”
Klein says the synagogue had increased security over the past 12 months following safety concerns, without giving further details.
