Safety fears for Perth’s Jewish community surge after anti-Semitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in WA has rocketed — up 464 per cent in a year — according to alarming figures revealed as Perth’s Jewish community reels from arson attacks on the east coast. Premier Roger Cook on Wednesday said there was “great anxiety” in Perth’s Jewish community after the attacks in Melbourne and Sydney. Children have been too scared to wear their school uniforms in public, while the location of some Jewish events have been kept secret and facial recognition technology is even being used to gain access to synagogues. The rise in anti-Semitism follows the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel last year, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. The ECAJ has recorded three assaults among the 116 “anti-Jewish” incidents in WA this year, up from 25 “anti-Jewish” incidents in 2023. Community leaders said the Federal Government’s response to anti-Semitism had been disappointing, singling out Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s speech on Monday that compared Israel’s compliance on international law with Russia and China. “All that does is embolden those hate mongers and agitators who are stirring up the people are prepared to actually take violent action and we’ve seen it in recent days,” Jewish Community Council of WA vice-president Steve Lieblich said. “My mum, who is a Holocaust survivor, after hearing about the further attack in Sydney overnight, she expressed disbelief. She said she felt like she was back in Poland in the 1930s.” Mr Lieblich said his 92-year-old mother had been targeted at a shopping centre in Dianella. “She was accosted because she was wearing a Star of David, a woman approached her and said, ‘You’re a bloody Jew, go back to Europe’,” he said. The location of some Jewish events is being kept under wraps, “parent patrols” and security guards at Carmel School in Yokine have been stepped up in the wake of the attacks and a 24-hour hotline is operating to track and respond to any security concerns among the Jewish community. Rabbi Daniel Lieberman said some children were too scared to wear their school uniforms in public, describing the extreme security as “sad” but necessary. “My kids are going to school walking past police and guards, and going into secure facilities that look like prisons, and the rest of Australia isn’t,” he said. “I recognise the need for it but I also want to recognise the sadness of that . . . we’ve got private guards and police patrols, and we have facial recognition to get into the synagogue, all sorts of advanced security that you don’t see around churches.” Rabbi Lieberman said the attacks in Melbourne and Sydney had shaken community confidence, but praised the response of WA Police and the State Government. “Absolutely it’s increasing fear, it’s appalling,” he said. “Incidents (here) haven’t been so severe and the response to the incidents that we have had has been very strong. It has to not only be strong, it has to be seen to be strong. “It has to be recorded that these sorts of things are not acceptable here in Australia and certainly here in Western Australia, where we’re very proud of the cohesion within the community.” According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s report, a boy who was “identifiably Jewish” was slapped in the face and called a “dirty Jew” in Osborne Park in October 2023. The incident was not reported to police. Other incidents reported by the ECAJ included abusive phone calls to Jewish community venues, a swastika being painted on a car in Girrawheen and graffiti of “F.K JEWS” and a swastika painted on a mural in Victoria Park in June. Researcher Julie Nathan said the numbers were “unprecedented”. Nationally the number of incidents from October 1, 2023, to September 30 this year have soared from 495 to 2062. Ms Nathan claimed the Hamas attack on Israel last year had “emboldened” hatred. “The Jewish community has been pounded since October 7,” she said. “Protests themselves are not anti-Jewish . . . they may be offensive to us, but we don’t classify them as anti-Jewish, but when they’re calling for violence against Jews or for the destruction of the only Jewish state in the world . . . we do count that.” Mr Cook and Police Minister Paul Papalia met with community leaders in Perth on Tuesday, in the wake of Friday’s firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue. “There’s great anxiety within that community,” Mr Cook said. “We said that we’d continue to work with them around how we can continue to make them safe and part of that is security, particularly amongst their most vulnerable members of their community, school children. “We want to make sure that Perth remains a peaceful place to live.” Mr Cook said police were supporting the community’s “lay security” patrols, but had not recorded any specific threats in the past week. Legislation banning the display of nazi hate symbols passed State Parliament in September, including a maximum penalty of five years in prison for performing the nazi salute in public. Mr Papalia said authorities had been vigilant and pro-active. “If you carry out an anti-Semitic attack in Western Australia, WA Police will hunt you down,” he said. “At yesterday’s meeting, the WA Jewish community acknowledged our continued support, particularly the press conference that I held with the WA Police Commissioner immediately after the Opera House disgrace last year. “We did not mince our words that day, vile acts of hatred will not be tolerated here in WA. “From increased police patrols to constant CCTV surveillance . . . authorities are watching and will take action.”