Police in Sydney reported on Wednesday that officers had taken the owner of a van filled with explosives into custody. The Sydney Morning Herald said that the van contained enough explosives to create a 40-meter blast wave. As of this writing, the owner has not been charged but has an arrest record. Police said that there have been no arrests related directly to the incident, but several people identified as being on the “periphery” have been arrested.
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BREAKING: The Australian police has announced they had stopped a vehicle full of explosives and a note with the address of Jewish targets, including a synagogue.
It’s outrageous that Jews are not safe in Australia. pic.twitter.com/ppbbcGiR3Y
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) January 29, 2025
The story came to light on January 19 when a citizen found and moved a van containing the explosives and the address of a local synagogue. Police and NSW Premier Chris Minns stated:
There’s only one way of calling it out, and that is terrorism. This would strike terror into the community, particularly the Jewish community, and it must be met with the full resources of the government. And I want to assure the people of NSW that’s exactly what’s happening.
While the scope of the potential result of this terror plot is frightening, it is essential to remember that this latest incident is just the latest example of the spike in antisemitism in the country.
Also writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Amber Schultz reports that police are averaging 300 patrols a day in high-risk areas where Jews are targeted. She also provides a list of incidents that have plagued the Jewish community:
- On October 17, arsonists targeted the Curly Lewis Brewing Company in Bondi. Police believe that this was a case of mistaken identity since, on October 20, arsonists hit Lewis’ Continental Cafe. The business, which was a kosher cafe and catering company, was destroyed. Four men were charged. One of them, Guy Finnegan, pleaded guilty and was given a 10-month sentence.
- On November 21, two men clad in masks and hoodies were caught on camera fleeing a suburb of Woollahra. In their wake was a burning utility vehicle, and a dozen vehicles and three buildings damaged with antisemitic graffiti.
- The same suburb was hit again on December 11, when someone wrote scrawled “Kill Israiel” and Death to Israiel” (sic) on two homes and a footpath and set a car alight. One person was arrested in connection with that incident.
- A synagogue in Sydney was vandalized on January 10 with swastikas and references to Hitler.
- Two people were arrested for a January 11 attack on a synagogue in Newton. In addition to spray painting antisemitic graffiti, the pair also tried to set fire to the building. Schultz notes, “The same night, antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on a house and five parked cars on Henry Street in Queens Park, while offensive comments were also written on a poster on Marrickville Road, Marrickville.”
- On January 21, the Only About Children Daycare Center in Marouba was torched and defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
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Those incidents are only a few highlights. Shultz goes on to catalog a long list of such crimes.
Antisemitism has always been a blight on humanity. While it has at times kept a lower profile, it has returned with a vengeance, often fueled by those who enjoy indulging their acts of violence under the auspices of “Free Palestine.” Such people pose a grave threat, not just to Jews but to everyone.
No one’s safety and no one’s freedom can be preserved so long as such creatures feel free to spread terror. If the day ever comes when such attacks become a regular part of the news cycle and people fail to be horrified and outraged, such people will only be encouraged to greater and greater acts of hate, violence, and chaos.
