Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia said on Sunday that he is not surprised by the arson attack launched on Friday on a synagogue in Melbourne in light of the rise in antisemitism in Australia since the Hamas massacre.
Leibler told Ynet in an interview that the burned-down synagogue was where Holocaust survivors went to pray after arriving in Australia. His grandfather was one of them, he said. "The optics of a charred, burned synagogue with Torah scrolls being pulled out and damaged was very triggering for a post-Holocaust community."
Interview with Josh Feldman, a resident of Melbourne, and Jeremy Liebler, President of the Zionist Federation of Australia
(Video: Mickey Schmidt)
"No one should be surprised," he said. "When you have a situation in which our government has allowed protesters to march through the streets of Sydney, shouting 'Globalize the intifada' and 'From the river to the sea,' well, here we have a real event of what globalizing the intifada means. It means murdering Jews and when they say 'Zionists are not welcome' they mean 'Jews are not welcome.'"
Josh Feldman a resident of Melbourne, said he agrees that the arson attack on Friday was not a surprise. "A lot of people thought it was a matter of time and on Friday morning we saw what a lot of people feared would happen, happen."
Josh Feldman a resident of Melbourne, said he agrees that the arson attack on Friday was not a surprise. "A lot of people thought it was a matter of time and on Friday morning we saw what a lot of people feared would happen, happen."
3 View gallery
Torah scroll salvaged from of a Melbourne synagogue torched in an antisemitic attack
(Photo: Tania Lee / AFP)
3 View gallery
Religious artifacts salvaged from of a Melbourne synagogue torched in an antisemitic attack
((Photo: Asanka Ratnayake / Getty Images)
Lieber said the Australian government bears responsibility, although he said he would frame the criticism voiced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu differently, and that those who carried out the attacks are those who are directly responsible. "But the reality is that antisemitism in this country has exploded under the current government," he said. "There has been an absence of sufficient leadership in early enough and strongly enough calling out the incitement that we've seen on the street."
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He said people felt emboldened by that and justified in carrying out the attacks. He also criticized the failure of the government to call out the anti-Israel feelings and antisemitism in the UN which he said is inherently corrupt, and that the Labor government is incapable of holding the Australian moral line at the UN.
Feldman said Jews are more fearful of showing Jewish symbols, over fear of being attacked, and spoke of local rabbis in Melbourne telling congregants to carry phones with them on the Sabbath in case of an emergency.