Allawah Synagogue Vandalised With Swastikas Overnight

A southern Sydney synagogue has been vandalised overnight, with swastikas spray painted on the outside of the building.

The phase “Hitler on top” was also painted in red next to the entrance of the synagogue.

The perpetrators were filmed on CCTV wearing hoodies and masks, spray painting the building.

Police officers discovered at the graffiti while on patrol at 4:30am, with NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna warning the culprits that they will be caught.

“Those people wanting to do this sort of thing we say to you, you will get caught, you will get prosecuted and you will be put before the courts.”

It is a criminal offence to a criminal offence knowingly display a Nazi symbol in public without a reasonable excuse in NSW. The crime is punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or an $11,000 fine.

The incident comes days after a car was vandalised with the phrase “f*ck the Jews” in Sydney’s east.

“Not normal or acceptable”

The synagogue is located in Chris Minns’ electorate of Kogarah, and the premier condemned the act as “monstrous.”

“I think that the painting of a swastika on a Jewish building shows you everything you need to know about how appalling these particular individuals are and what their ultimate aim when it comes to members of the Jewish community,” he said.

“It’s around the corner from my house, and I know that the people that I represent and the community that I live in completely repudiate that kind of horrifying vandalism, that horrifying violence in our community.”

President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip said that Australians should not become desensitised to these acts.

“It is not normal or acceptable that Australians are having to wake every morning filled with apprehension about whether or not there has been another anti-Semitic hate crime overnight,” he said.

President of the synagogue George Foster told the Daily Telegraph that he received a call from police in the early morning.

“It is deeply distressing but it’s almost inevitable given the background on the rise of anti-Semitism currently,” he said. “My parents were holocaust survivors and this has echoes of Germany 1933 with people singling out Jewish shops, religious institutions and homes by painting them with antisemitic signs. It’s unbelievable this happening in Australia.”