Bondi Beach defaced with Swastikas

Bondi Beach and Bondi Junction residents woke up horrified this morning (Sunday) to find the area daubed in swastikas.

Several people told The AJN this morning while walking on the promenade they were horrified and shocked.

“How could someone do this in Bondi?” one resident said while walking past.

Another said, “I would never expect to see this in Australia, let alone the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.”

Swastikas were also daubed in Bondi Junction, seemingly by the same perpetrator.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president Lesli Berger said this shouldn’t be happening.

“To say that the Jewish community is appalled at this expression of wanton racism is a severe understatement,” Berger said.

“The swastika represents the ultimate in race hatred and all Australians of goodwill will stand together in condemning this shocking display.”

Police believe that they were spray painted onto murals along the famous beach promenade late on Saturday night.

NSW Labor frontbencher Walt Secord and Labor candidate for Coogee Dr Marjorie O’Neill today visited the Bondi Beach Promenade to publicly condemn a swastika daubing attack which occurred last night (Feb 9).

Dr O’Neill, who is also a Waverley Labor Councillor spoke to the council staff and asked that the offensive material be removed – after the appropriate police investigation – and council workers are already removing the offensive material.

Mr Secord, who is also deputy chair of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel described the swastika attack at Bondi Beach as “sickening”.

“We are appalled by these sickening attacks and they have no place in our society. Those who carried out the attack are gutless cowards. We have to be vigilant and speak out against these sorts of sickening attacks.”

Dr O’Neill said the attack was an “affront to those who survived the Shoah and the brave Australians who fought Nazism and fascism during World War II”.

“This attack seems to have been carried out by more than simple vandals and was a clearly calculated racially-motivated hate crime aimed to cause maximum offence – especially as they targeted an Aboriginal-themed mural,” Dr O’Neill said.

Member for Wentworth Dr Kerryn Phelps, who visited the scene of the daubing, said, “The people of the Eastern suburbs are outraged this morning to discover the anti-Semitic graffiti at iconic Bondi Beach.

“I was pleased to see Waverley Council workers promptly on the job, trying to repair the damage. There has been an unprecedented increase in anti-Semitic attacks in Australia over the past year. This mirrors similar increases in the US and Europe. This episode is further evidence of the need to increase funding for security for theJewish community.

“We must have a public education program about the impact of racism and anti-Semitism so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We also need to have serious penalties for hate crimes.

“We need to do whatever we can stamp out the expression of anti-Semitism in all its forms.”

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