Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and the Bishop of South Sydney, Michael Stead, have held consultations with Jewish and other faith leaders, as well as Government, as anti-semitism reaches a new level.

Firebombing of cars, graffiti hate attacks on homes and synagogues in Sydney’s east, and now the arson attack on a preschool in Maroubra, have created fear in Jewish communities.

A week before the preschool attack, Archbishop Raffel condemned vandalism at the Allawah and Newtown synagogues as reprehensible and utterly unacceptable.

“Any attack on a place of worship is an attack on the principles of freedom of religion, association and conscience, which are foundational for our multicultural and cohesive community,” the Archbishop said in his fourth public statement since the crisis began. 

“The Christian Scriptures give no warrant whatsoever for such hateful acts. Rather, Jesus commanded his followers to love our neighbours as ourselves. Sydney Anglicans welcome and affirm the presence and contribution of Jewish Australians for whom Sydney is the home we share.”

Just before the attack at the preschool, Archbishop Raffel joined with the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios Griniezakis, in a rare joint statement in The Australian newspaper.

The archbishops expressed the hope that the ceasefire in the Middle East might hold. “Together with many others, we hope and pray that it does and that this might be the beginning of a sustained peace in a region so
often marred by war and human suffering – Jesus’ homeland and the ‘Holy Land’ for Jews, Christians and Muslims,” they said. “There is no place for any type of religious or racially motivated hatred in Australia. Anti-Semitism is a particularly egregious form of discrimination.”

Less than 24 hours later, the arson attack on a Maroubra childcare centre was similarly condemned by the NSW Faith Affairs Council, which is chaired by Bishop Stead.

“To specifically target a childcare centre, to threaten the safety of innocent children, is horrifying,” the council’s statement said. “Acts of hatred are not acts of religion. We condemn anti-Semitism. We condemn hatred directed against any community in Australia. We call on religious and community leaders to condemn this anti-religious act of violence, and proactively promote harmony and understanding across our multicultural and multifaith communities.
 We will be working with the NSW Government over the coming weeks to review stronger legislation.”

St Andrew’s Cathedral in the centre of Sydney was also sprayed with graffiti after the statement by Archbishop Raffel appeared in the newspaper. 

“Our Cathedral suffered some anti-Semitic and hateful graffiti overnight, which has been promptly removed and reported to the police,” explained the Dean, Sandy Grant. “It is, of course, nothing compared to the vile graffiti and arson attacks suffered by Jewish synagogues and adjacent to Jewish homesteads in our city. 

“We also continue to pray regularly for the peace of our city and for areas affected by terrorism, warfare and violence around the world."

Above: The burnt-out Maroubra childcare centre (photo by Judy Adamson)