A childcare centre in Sydney was set alight on Tuesday (January 21) early morning and antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on the wall, authorities said, the latest in a spate of attacks in Australia targeting Jews.
Police said it had launched an investigation into the attack — the second attack in four days in Sydney — which happened around 1 a.m. (1400 GMT, Monday) in the city’s east.
The childcare centre, located near a Jewish school, suffered extensive damage but there were no reports of injuries, police said.
New South Wales premier, Chris Minns said: “I want to make it clear that this is atrocious. Right now New South Wales police are conducting a major investigation in relation to who is responsible for this vicious hate crime but I think we know enough already, without knowing the identities, to know the kind of people we are dealing with, the kind of people that would burn down a childcare centre on the day children are meant to be returning to the classroom.”
“The kind of people who would burn it down because it’s located next to a synagogue. The kind of people who would make the kind of activity where they would attack a fellow Australian whom they don’t know because of their race or religion, it is completely disgusting and these bastards will be round up by New South Wales police.”
Australia has seen a rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since Israel retaliated against an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, with an assault on Gaza that has left tens of thousands of people dead. At least half a dozen incidents were reported in the last two months in Sydney alone.
