First, the passenger on the bus talked about “Jews, money and drugs.” Then, raising his voice, he yelled “Nazi” at about 10 Jewish students from Leibler Yavneh College aboard a public bus in Melbourne. Soon, he was calling himself a Nazi as well.
“Then out of his bag, he pulled out a massive, serrated knife approximately six inches in length,” one Jewish student, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told the Australian newspaper The Age last week.
One of the students yelled for the driver to open the door since the man had a knife. Even after the students exited, the man followed them for a bit, according to reports.
By the time police officers arrived, the assailant was nowhere to be found.
The Victorian Community Security Group has said the event was an “isolated incident,” the Australian Jewish News reported on Thursday. The Victoria police, which has proclaimed that there is “no place at all in our society” for antisemitic or other such hatred, is reportedly still investigating the case.
Earlier this year, research suggested that antisemitism is up 41% in Australia within the past two years. This year, the country has threatened the social network X (formerly Twitter) with fines if it doesn’t reduce hate speech, and it is trying to criminalize nationally public displays of Nazi symbols.
