Another anti-semitic incident in Melbourne

Anton Block, president of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, said today:

“I regret to report that Melbourne has seen another violent anti-Semitic act, the latest in a series that have occurred in recent times.At 7.15am three men verbally abused a young religious man for being Jewish whilst he was walking to a tram stop. They then physically attacked him and the fight spilled onto Dandenong Road, a major highway. Although this stopped traffic, unfortunately no one saw fit to come to the victim’s aid. After striking him a number of times, the men ran off.

Whilst both the State government and Victoria Police have taken positive steps to combat anti-Semitism, the local Jewish community is concerned by both the growing number of hate crimes and their increasingly violent nature. That a young man on his way to work in suburban Melbourne can be assaulted for his religion, indeed for anything at all, is simply unacceptable.

Such behaviour is not simply an attack on an individual or the Jewish community, but on every member of Victoria’s multicultural society.

We call on the government to take stronger action against the perpetrators of such crimes, whilst simultaneously devising more effective educational strategies to reverse this mounting intolerance.”

For further information, please contact Anton Block on 0418 320 417.