Melbourne unrest: Israeli restaurant vandalized, synagogue set ablaze

Melbourne unrest: Israeli restaurant vandalized, synagogue set ablaze

Elad Benari

A pro-Palestinian Arab protest in Melbourne’s city center turned violent late Friday, with a mob targeting a popular Israeli restaurant and an attempted arson attack reported at a local synagogue, reported the Herald Sun newspaper.

Around 8:30 p.m. local time, approximately 20 masked individuals stormed Miznon, an Israeli eatery on Hardware Lane, shouting anti-Israel slogans and hurling objects. Witnesses said one window was smashed with a chair and food was thrown at the premises.

“They came here with their drums and their mic... Then they started getting aggressive throwing tomatoes, chairs, and glasses,” a witness said. “They caused lots of damage to the businesses down here.”

Police cordoned off the street and reportedly made multiple arrests.

Separately, the Community Security Group (CSG) confirmed an attempted arson attack at a synagogue in East Melbourne. While the front door sustained fire damage, the building itself was unharmed. No injuries were reported in either incident.

Victoria Police and fire crews remained on scene late into the evening, and investigations are ongoing.

Australia has seen a sharp uptick in antisemitic attacks in recent months, targeting synagogues, Jewish buildings, and vehicles across the country.

In early December, the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed, in an incident that is being treated as an act of terrorism.

Days later, a car was set on fire, and two properties were vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra, which has a substantial Jewish population.

In another incident, the words "F— the Jews" were spray-painted on a car in Sydney.

In early January, the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah, a suburb of the city, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.

A day later, the Newtown synagogue, located in Sydney’s inner west, was vandalized with red swastikas that were spray-painted across the building’s front wall.

In another incident, a home in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, previously owned by Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was vandalized.

In February, a video surfaced of two Australian nurses, Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, stating they would refuse to treat Israelis and would send them “to hell”. 

As a result of the video, the two have been banned from working with or providing services to participants of the country’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for two years.