An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured.
A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m., a police statement said on Saturday. Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, police said. Fire fighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance, police.
Footage of the arsonist setting fire to the synagogue
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Photo of suspected arsonist released by Melbourne police forces
(Photo: Victoria Police)
Danny Segal, president of the local Jewish community, appealed for public solidarity: “We are here to live in peace. All of us want to live together—we’ve turned a new page in Australia, a wonderful country—and what they’re doing is simply wrong and unfair. As Australians, we all need to stand up and stand together.”
The weekend saw another antisemitic incident. Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the Melbourne restaurant of Israeli chef Eyal Shani to protest the war in Gaza and the involvement of Shahar Segal, CEO of the restaurant group, in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Protesters shattered windows and chanted “Death to the IDF.” Police dispersed the crowd. One woman sustained minor injuries and another—28 years old—was arrested.
Anti-Defamation Commission head Dvir Abramovich, a prominent voice against antisemitism in Australia, said diners at the restaurant were “terrorized,” adding, “For one night, Melbourne stopped being a safe place for Jews.”
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Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both incidents: “These are shocking criminal acts against a synagogue and an Israeli-owned business in Melbourne. As a community, we must all stand up against this.”
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan also denounced the attacks, calling them “deliberate attempts to intimidate and unsettle Jewish families.” She added, “Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate—and an attack on a Jewish house of worship is antisemitism.”
A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.
Jewish and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups. The Australian government last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the community.
Last December, two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne’s southeast. They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it. A worshipper sustained minor burns.