Sydney
CNN
–
A man stopped the door to the synagogue and a group of protesters stormed an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne on Friday night.
Among the synagogues in the downtown area of East Melbourne, the man poured flammable liquid into the front door of the synagogue on Albert Street before setting the fire, Victoria Police said.
The group was having a Sabbath dinner when the attack marked the beginning of a day of Jewish Rest, where the attack took place at 8pm local time, and when Alex Libchin, co-CEO of Australia’s Jewish Executive Council (ECAJ), wrote about X.
No one was injured and firefighters extinguished the small flames, police said.
Around 20 protesters slogans surged into Israeli restaurants and chanted the slogans in a hardware lane just over a kilometre west of Hardware Lane, one of the most popular areas of restaurants and nightlife. The 28-year-old was arrested for obstructing police and was released on a subpoena.
The group had chanted “death to IDF” before arriving at the restaurant, CNN Affiliate Nine News reported, citing witnesses.
Before opening a branch in Melbourne, staff at Miznon’s restaurant, which was launched in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv in 2011, admitted the incident when contacted by CNN.
Speaking at a press conference, Victoria State Police acting commander Zorka Dunstan said officers were also investigating the third attack early on Saturday morning.
The suspect spray painted the building’s cars and walls, she said, adding that the business has been targeted in the past by pro-Palestinian protesters.
The security Investigation Department, part of the Counter-Terrorism Commander, is investigating all the cases, but police have not yet declared whether it constitutes a terrorist incident, Dunstan said.
“We look at the intentions and ideology of the person or person,” she said.
Many of Australia’s powerful Jewish population of 117,000 are worried after anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne, the country’s two largest cities, from the latter half of last year, when it scribbled arson attacks on synagogues and buildings and cars.
The latest attacks elicited criticism from officials and community leaders on Saturday.
X Condemning the synagogue attack on Saturday, Prime Minister Victoria Jacinta Alan said it was “a Jewish family of peace and trauma that is designed to crush it.”
“What happened in Shabat makes it even more abominable,” she added, noting that the children and women are among the people at the venue.
“Attacking a place of worship is an act of hatred, and an attacking a place of worship by Jews is an act of anti-Semitism,” she said.
Melbourne Mayor Nicholas Reese described the attack as “shocking” according to Nine News.
“I cannot condemn this kind of action in stronger terms… this is a city of peace and tolerance and we do not support it,” he said.
ECAJ’s Ryvchin urged the public to condemn “these deplorable crimes.”
“You can’t reason or appease the person responsible. They must face the full power of the law,” he wrote to X.
