Latest news with #ShlomoNathanson
Herald Sun
13 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Anger at ‘un-Australian' graffiti at Melbourne Hebrew Congregation
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News. Rabbi calls graffiti attack 'un-Australian' after a heritage listed synagogue was marked with pro-Palestinian messaging on Sunday. Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, located on Toorak Rd in Melbourne's south east, was plastered with red graffiti on Sunday afternoon. The graffiti messages read: 'Free Palestine' and 'Iran is da bomb'. The synagogue's Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson spoke out, calling the graffiti 'un-Australian'. 'We feel this to be an attack on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and it is unacceptable', he said. 'Whilst this is an offence to the Jewish community, it is our hope that people say 'not on my watch, not in my Australia' '. Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson said that his congregation have been the recipients of 'vile forms of anti-Semitism' as of late. 'Since October 7th, we've been on the receiving end of death threats and bomb threats', he said. He spoke about the feeling of having to 'look over your shoulder' and that the harassment is becoming their new normal. He said that he hopes that the police can find the perpetrators and bring them to justice because 'if these crimes go uncheck they will carry on'. The graffiti is in the process of being removed according to Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson.
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘It's un-Australian': Rabbi says the hate must stop after graffiti attack on heritage-listed synagogue
Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson has described a graffiti attack on the historic synagogue in South Yarra on Sunday as 'un-Australian'. Vandals used red paint to scrawl 'Free Palestine' and 'Iran is Da Bomb', set inside the outline of a nuclear mushroom cloud, on the heritage-listed synagogue in the early afternoon. There were no religious services or activities at the synagogue at the time. The attacks were reported to police, and cleaners using special chemicals were able to remove most of the graffiti from the building near the corner of Toorak and St Kilda roads just south of the inner city. The attack came only hours after news broke that the US had dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities, but Nathanson urged those people angry about the current situation in the Middle East to not take it out on fellow Australians like those of his Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. 'Tensions are understandably very high today, but an act like this on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation is just unacceptable,' Nathanson told this masthead on Sunday evening. 'It's the place of worship and it has been since 1841. It's one of the oldest congregations in mainland Australia. Over which time, it has welcomed people from all faiths.' Nathanson said police were called and security footage was passed on to them. He stressed that the synagogue would continue to serve its broad community of worshippers. 'There's going to be a wide variety of opinions as to the politics in the Middle East and where things stand from one extreme to the other, but to translate that into violent acts and antisemitism and criminal activity here in Australia is un-Australian,' Nathanson said.
The Age
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘It's un-Australian': Rabbi says the hate must stop after graffiti attack on heritage-listed synagogue
Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson has described a graffiti attack on the historic Melbourne Synagogue on Sunday as 'un-Australian'. Vandals used red paint to scrawl 'Free Palestine' and 'Iran is Da Bomb', set inside the outline of a nuclear mushroom cloud, on the heritage-listed synagogue in the early afternoon. There were no religious services or activities at the synagogue at the time. The attacks were reported to police, and cleaners using special chemicals were able to remove most of the graffiti from the building near the corner of Toorak and St Kilda roads just south of the inner city. The attack came only hours after news broke that the US had dropped bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities, but Nathanson urged those people angry about the current situation in the Middle East to not take it out on fellow Australians like those of his Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. 'Tensions are understandably very high today, but an act like this on the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation is just unacceptable,' Nathanson told this masthead on Sunday evening. 'It's the place of worship and it has been since 1841. It's one of the oldest congregations in mainland Australia. Over which time, it has welcomed people from all faiths.' Nathanson said police were called and security footage was passed on to them. He stressed that the synagogue would continue to serve its broad community of worshippers. 'There's going to be a wide variety of opinions as to the politics in the Middle East and where things stand from one extreme to the other, but to translate that into violent acts and antisemitism and criminal activity here in Australia is un-Australian,' Nathanson said.
