Editorial: Synagogue fire a tragic reflection of Labor’s failure to tackle the rise of anti-Semitism

A burning synagogue. Just the words are enough to bring to mind the horrific events that took place in Germany as the Nazis took control in the 1930s.

And yet it happened here. In Australia. On Friday. At about 4.10am at the Adass Israel Synagogue of Melbourne.

And afterwards police were investigating reports that the early morning “deliberately lit fire” was started by two people wearing masks who appeared to have splashed around an accelerant.

But after we feel revulsion at what has taken place we need to ask are we surprised? Sadly the answer is that we probably are not.

For what has happened in this country since Hamas launched its murderous rampage into Israel on October 7, 2023, has been a slide into a very dark period in which Jewish Australians have been exposed to a growing tide of anti-Semitism.

The unthinkable descent has seen a growing list of shameful events. A few come to mind immediately. Remember the pro-Palestinian mob which gathered at the Sydney Opera House to celebrate the terrorist atrocity committed by Hamas?

The explosion of anti-Semitism amid regular pro-Palestinian marches in city streets and on university campuses? The car set on fire and anti-Israel slogans daubed on vehicles and a unit complex in Sydney?

And now this attack on the synagogue. It is a tragic and contemptible extension of the hate which has been allowed to exist, then fester, then explode into action in this country.

A consequence of Federal Labor’s actions and the wider inactions around the politics of the Middle East.

The inaction includes the failure to take decisive action against the anti-Semitic hate spreaders in the wake of October 7.

The actions include the Federal Government’s morally bereft shift away from Israel this week by supporting a United Nations resolution that backs a Palestinian state and demands a withdrawal from the occupied territories “as rapidly as possible”. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Labor had “sold out the Jewish community”.

After the synagogue was set alight Prime Minister Anthony Albanese predictably came out to “unequivocally condemn the attack,” adding that he had “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.”

In the face of such a brazen attack he could do little else. But he and Foreign Minister Penny Wong must take some share of the blame for the latest outrage.

By repeatedly bending over backwards to not offend the Muslin community — and its growing political clout — and bleating about the need for social cohesion, Labor has been blind to what has been happening in Australia.

But now the results are impossible not to see.