Category Archives: Antisemitism

Caravan laden with explosives found in Sydney allegedly intended for antisemitic attack

Posted on by

NSW police investigating after explosives found in Dural with premier Chris Minns warning incident could have led to ‘mass casualty event’

More than 100 counter-terrorism police are investigating after a caravan was found laden with explosives at a residential property in greater Sydney with indications the explosives would be used in an antisemitic attack.

Police said they had found the caravan on a property in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney on 19 January after a report was made.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Third of young adults in UK ‘unable to name Auschwitz or any Nazi death camps’

Posted on by

Lack of knowledge about Holocaust identified as well as level of denial and disinformation seen on social media

A third of young adults in the UK are unable to name Auschwitz or any of the other concentration camps and ghettoes where the crimes of the Holocaust were committed, according to a study.

Other growing gaps in knowledge – especially among those aged 18-29 – were also identified, as part of a major international survey in countries including the US and UK.

Continue reading...

Jewish non-profit chief says Musk will spur violence with his ‘Nazi salute’

Posted on by

Amy Spitalnick of Jewish Council for Public Affairs warns far right will take action as ‘license for violent extremism’

The head of a prominent US Jewish civil rights body said Elon Musk’s repeated fascist-style salute during Donald Trump’s inauguration could act as a spur for violent extremists.

“The salute itself should be enough to warrant condemnation and attention,” said Amy Spitalnick, adding that so should “the ways extremists see an action like this and take it as license for their own violent extremism”.

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese has pledged action on antisemitism – but Peter Dutton is still setting the agenda | Josh Butler

Posted on by

The prime minister’s about-face after attack on Sydney childcare centre has left him once again looking like he’s playing catchup

Anthony Albanese has pledged action on antisemitic attacks – but his decision to call a snap national cabinet meeting less than a day after rebuffing that suggestion has left him once again looking like he’s playing catchup.

The prime minister condemned an arson and graffiti attack on a childcare centre in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra this week as a hate crime and “vile, antisemitic violence”. Scheduled to hold a press conference in western Sydney on Tuesday morning, he rerouted to the city’s east instead, visiting the site of the attack and then holding a press conference with the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese convenes national cabinet on antisemitism after Sydney childcare centre set alight

Posted on by

Prime minister, who has previously resisted calling the meeting, says it will focus on recent wave of attacks and graffiti

National cabinet will meet on Tuesday afternoon to discuss antisemitism in Australia, after Anthony Albanese pledged that the latest attack on a Sydney childcare centre “will lead to action”.

The prime minister previously resisted calls for such a meeting, saying on Monday Australians did not just want to see more meetings on antisemitism.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Counter-terrorism police take up investigation of swastika attack at Sydney synagogue

Posted on by

Vandals also started a fire in Newtown that could have had deadly consequences, commissioner says

Counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation of a swastika vandalism attack at a Sydney synagogue as the police commissioner and premier call on the public to help catch the perpetrators.

Jewish leaders condemned the latest antisemitic attack, in which red swastikas were spray-painted across the front wall of Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west by a male and female about 4.30am on Saturday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Second Sydney synagogue vandalised with swastikas as NSW premier condemns ‘monstrous’ acts

Posted on by

Police investigating graffiti on Newtown synagogue a day after similar attack in Allawah

A second Sydney synagogue has been vandalised with swastikas in as many days in an attack the Jewish community said was intended to erode social cohesion.

The Newtown synagogue in Sydney’s inner west was the latest site targeted, with red swastikas spray painted across its front wall.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads

Continue reading...

Police forces report sharp rise in religious hate crimes across UK

Posted on by

Data shows spikes in antisemitic and Islamophobic offences after outbreak of Middle East conflict and Southport attack

Some of the UK’s largest police forces have reported increases in religious hate crimes in the past 18 months, figures reveal, with the number of incidents rising after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in autumn 2023 and again after the Southport attacks in England this summer.

Forces including Greater Manchester, West Midlands and the Metropolitan police recorded sharp increases in antisemitic offences in the weeks after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East in October last year.

Continue reading...

What is hybrid warfare, which some fear Russia will use after Ukraine’s strike?

Posted on by

Strike with US-made missiles has prompted fears of Russian reprisal that would broaden the scope of a frontline

A Ukrainian strike using American-made missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia using American-made weaponry, has prompted renewed fears of reprisal through “hybrid warfare” – a chaotic tool of conflict that muddies borders and broadens the scope of a frontline.

Over recent years, European nations have witnessed a spate of incidents – cyber-attacks, arson, incendiary devices, sabotage and even murder plots. The aim of such episodes, security officials believe, is to sow chaos, exacerbate social tensions among Ukraine’s allies and disrupt military supplies to Kyiv.

Continue reading...

Dutch coalition government survives despite minister resignation over Amsterdam violence

Posted on by

Prime minister Dick Schoof said party leaders decided to work together after five-hour crisis meeting

The Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof’s rightwing government averted a crisis on Friday when a junior minister resigned over alleged racist comments by cabinet colleagues, but the coalition government will remain in place.

The deputy finance minister, Nora Achahbar, handed in her resignation late on Friday as the Netherlands grapples with the political fallout of last week’s attacks on Israeli football fans.

Continue reading...

Fans clash at football match between France and Israel

Posted on by

Skirmish quickly quashed by security guards at stadium as riot police is deployed at ‘high-risk’ game

A skirmish involving Israel fans broke out in the stands of the Stade de France during a tense match between Israel and France’s men’s football teams, but a heavy police presence ensured a repeat of the serious violence in Amsterdam was avoided.

The game had been designated as “high risk” after the hooliganism and antisemitism witnessed in the Netherlands before and after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv last week.

Continue reading...

‘Toxic cocktail’ led to Amsterdam violence, mayor says

Posted on by

Antisemitism, hooliganism and anger over Gaza war all factors in trouble that broke out last week, report says

The violence that erupted in Amsterdam last week was sparked by “a toxic cocktail” of hooliganism and antisemitism, according to a detailed report published by the city’s mayor.

The city remains gripped by high tensions days after violence flared around a football match last Thursday between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Continue reading...

Macron to attend ‘high-risk’ France-Israel football match

Posted on by

French president offers ‘fraternity and solidarity’ as Israel discourages wearing of ‘Jewish symbols’ abroad

Emmanuel Macron will attend the France-Israel football match at the Stade de France on Thursday in a gesture of “fraternity and solidarity” after attacks on Jewish fans in Amsterdam last week.

Thousands of extra police will be on duty for the game taking place against a backdrop of high tension caused by the conflict in Gaza.

Continue reading...

More arrests expected in Amsterdam over violence on Israeli football fans

Posted on by

Four suspects still held on suspicion of violent acts and 50 people fined after attacks on football fans

Amsterdam police expect to make more arrests after what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans, prosecutors said on Saturday.

Four suspects remained detained on Saturday on suspicion of violent acts, including two minors, and 40 people had been fined for public disturbance and 10 for offences including vandalism, prosecutors said.

Continue reading...

Trump’s pro-Israel stance alienates far right as it ramps up antisemitic attacks

Posted on by

Unity has begun to crack over ex-president’s support for Israel in its military operations across the Middle East

As the presidential election season unfolds, the Trump campaign has increasingly leaned on xenophobic rhetoric born out of racist chat boards – even receiving the tacit help of neo-Nazis attempting to seed their own policy interests into the mainstream.

But one campaign issue where the Maga world and the extremists of Telegram and other fringe social media sites have diverged, is the former president’s support for Israel in its several military operations across the Middle East.

Continue reading...

Australian politicians mark 7 October anniversary – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

904 Australians and their immediate family members have now left Lebanon on assisted-departure flights – in addition to those who left on partner and commercial flights.

407 Australians left on 5 October, and 448 on 6 October.

Why so silent, Mark? This, I have been asked a lot. I have thought about it a lot too. I have said little in public about the Hamas-Israel war because I am not the foreign affairs minister. I am Australia’s first law officer. A minister, not a commentator. Just because I’m not talking doesn’t mean I don’t understand.

Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan fears rise in UK hate crime linked to Middle East violence

Posted on by

Exclusive: London mayor boosts counter-hate funding as British Jewish group warns of danger of ‘reprisal’ attacks

Sadiq Khan has warned of a potential increase in hate crime in Britain triggered by the rise in Middle East violence, as a leading British Jewish group warned of the danger of “reprisal” attacks here.

The London mayor’s warning comes after a series of Israeli airstrikes against targets in Lebanon, which have killed Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as its followers, and it is feared, scores of civilians. Khan is pumping extra emergency funding into groups in London countering hate.

Continue reading...

Campaign demanding University of Sydney vice-chancellor resigns is ‘dangerous’, Jewish Council warns

Posted on by

JCA’s Sarah Schwartz says targeting Mark Scott’s handling of pro-Palestinian encampment risks conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism

A “concerted campaign” calling for University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott’s resignation is “dangerous” and conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, the Jewish Council of Australia says.

Scott is facing calls to resign over the university’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He has apologised and conceded the university must do better.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Greens MP to tour Sydney Jewish Museum and donate funds after offensive ‘tentacles’ trope

Posted on by

Exclusive: Jenny Leong, who apologised after referencing antisemitic cartoon, was subject of human rights commission complaint

New South Wales Greens MP Jenny Leong will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum and has donated $4,000 after a complaint was lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission over comments she made about Jewish lobby groups last year.

Leong apologised and said she did not intend to reference an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as an octopus after footage emerged of comments she made at a Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney in December 2023.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australian government won’t back public views of special envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia

Posted on by

Exclusive: Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal ‘all communications’ will be solely attributed to special envoy

The Australian government is seeking to create some distance from its new special envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia, suggesting they do not characterise their comments as official government policy.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal the instructions the government has given its new special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, including the need to highlight “diverse Jewish Australian identities”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...