Congregation flees after arsonist sets fire to an Australian synagogue door

MELBOURNE Australia AP An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around p m a police report reported on Saturday Around worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured police declared Fire fighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance police Antisemitic attacks roil Australia since A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the Oct Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in Gaza Jewish and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups The Australian administration last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the region Last December two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne s southeast They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it A worshipper sustained minor burns No charges have been laid for that attack which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed on antisemitism The Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Band which includes Victoria state police federal police and Australia s main domestic spy agency mentioned the fire was likely a politically-motivated attack Police say synagogue attack is a serious crime Acting Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan described the latest synagogue fire as a serious crime Police distributed a CCTV image of a suspect I d like to make it very clear that we do recognize that these crimes are disgusting and abhorrent But at this stage we are not declaring this a terrorist affair Dunstan narrated reporters In the subject of our scrutiny we will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons involved or person to determine if this is in fact terrorism At the moment we are categorizing it as a serious criminal happening and responding accordingly she added A terrorism declaration opens the study to more resourcing and can conclusion in charges that carry longer prison sentences The synagogue s president Danny Segal called for the wider Australian region to stand with his congregation We re here to be in peace you know we re here for everybody to live together and we ve got a fresh start in Australia such a beautiful country and what they re doing is just not fair and not right and as Australians we should stand up and everybody should stand up Segal communicated reporters Protesters harass diners in Israeli-owned restaurant Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night around masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant A Miznon restaurant window was broken A -year-old woman was arrested for hindering police Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia revealed diners were terrorized as the group chanted Death to the IDF referring to the Israel Defense Forces Melbourne for one night stopped being a safe place for Jews Abramovich commented Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both the synagogue and restaurant incidents These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking Reece revealed All of us as a locality need to stand up against it Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan revealed both incidents were designed to traumatize Jewish families Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism she noted in a comment Source