Australian authorities called a spate of anti-semitic graffiti sprayed across Sydney “monstrous” after more properties were defaced early Saturday.Vandals spray painted red swastikas outside the entrance to an inner-city synagogue overnight, police said, while a house in Sydney’s affluent east was daubed with anti-Jewish slurs.
In the early hours of Friday, vandals had painted swastikas on another synagogue in a different part of Sydney.
“These people are determined to divide our community in two,” state Premier Chris Minns said.“We will always call out these acts for what they are — monstrous and appalling.”
Masked arsonists torched a Melbourne synagogue in December, prompting the government to create a federal task force targeting anti-Semitism.
As in much of the world, the war in Gaza has stoked tensions between supporters of Israel and Palestinians in Australia, sparking regular protests.
sft/lb
© Agence France-Presse
