The third synagogue fire in less than a month damaged Sydney’s Sephardi Synagogue on Tuesday morning.
The New South Wales police arson squad promptly linked it to the allied ground offensive against Iraq in Kuwait.
But a past president of the congregation, Alfred Gubbay, called that “pure speculation.” The fire was just “a wanton act of arson” he said.
Police said an unknown person or persons smashed a window and set fire to the synagogue’s kitchen. The fire brigade’s prompt response confined the damage to a small section of the building complex.
The chairman of the New South Wales Ethnic Affairs Committee, Stepan Kerkasharian, denounced the arson. “Whether it is ultimately proved to be directly connected with the Gulf war or not, this sort of criminal behavior has no place in our society.” he said.
“Naturally, the Gulf war has produced tensions in our society, but we shouldn’t allow bigots or hoodlums to use that tension to create fear and hatred in our harmonious, multicultural society,” Kerkasharian added.
In the past month, arsonists caused $80,000 damage to the North Shore Temple Emanuel kindergarten in the Sydney suburb of Chatswood.
Less than 24 hours earlier, someone torched the North Eastern Jewish War Memorial Center in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster.
Damage was estimated at $6,000 by Joe Gersh, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, who blamed “hooligans” for the fire.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
