Hundreds of protesters gathered in Sydney on Sunday to decry the recent surge in antisemitism in Australia.
The weekend demonstration at a central pedestrian mall, which was attended by leaders of the Jewish community as well as lawmakers, followed two major antisemitic incidents in Australia in the last few weeks.
The demonstrators at the rally at Sydney’s Martin Place, which also coincided with the 10-year anniversary of a terror attack on an Australian café, carried placards which read “From the River to the Sea Indigenous to Jews Always Was Always Will Be,” as well as a “Penny Wrong,” referring to Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
“How can you sleep when our synagogues are burning?” one sign asked.
Earlier this month, a Melbourne synagogue was torched and badly damaged in an attack that sent shockwaves throughout the west. Just days later, a car was set on fire in a Sydney suburb and the words “kill Israel” spray-painted on the garage door of a residential building.
Meanwhile, two IDF soldiers were recently denied Australian visas for a family visit after being asked about “war crimes.”
Australia’s left-wing Labor government has been accused of harboring anti-Israel positions, amid a steep increase in antisemitic incidents in the country over the last year.
