'Sickening' act outside Sydney primary school condemned: 'JAW-DROPPING'
A Sydney councillor has been targeted by anti-Semitic graffiti during her campaign to become Lord Mayor.
Campaign posters of Labor candidate Linda Scott were targeted overnight and covered in swastikas while her image was altered to resemble Adolf Hitler.
Alarmingly, one was located outside Australia Street Infants School in Newtown.
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Councillor Scott told Yahoo News Australia she "condemns racism and discrimination in all forms".
“Hatred and racism has no place in the city of Sydney," she said.
Cr Scott said the campaign posters were removed as soon as she learned of the incident.
“No other street signs in the area graffitied with the hateful messages," she said.
“I call on all other candidates in the upcoming City of Sydney elections to publicly condemn these attacks and ensure their volunteers were not responsible for defacing Labor signs.”
Cr Scott said combating racism and discrimination would be important to her if elected City of Sydney Lord Mayor and she added she was proud to move for council's installation of #racismnotwelcome street signs across the city.
Pandemic a catalyst for anti-Semitic behaviour
Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC), condemned the graffiti, adding it was "troubling" for it to be left outside a school.
"At a time when we as a nation are pulling together to fight this coronavirus pandemic, there are evil forces out there who are intent on attacking our leaders through a blizzard of jaw-dropping racism," he told Yahoo News Australia.
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Dr Abramovich said such behaviour was on the rise and was becoming intertwined with anti-vaccination movements.
In October, the ADC shared video of a man wearing blue and white pyjamas at a Melbourne restrictions protest, holding a sign saying: 'History repeats'.
Dr Abramovich described such behaviour as an "ugly tactic" and warned people should not appropriate the Holocaust when opposing vaccine mandates and pandemic laws.
"We stand firmly with Linda Scott during this difficult time and trust that those who carried this outrage are identified and brought to justice," he said.
"We are better than this ugly behaviour, and it is beyond sickening that more than 75 years after the Holocaust, our elected representatives continue to be targeted by those using the Nazi symbols to intimidate and create a climate of fear."
Darren Bark, CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, told Yahoo News Australia the vandalism was "un-Australian".
"This is upsetting and has no place in our society – the Nazis were responsible for the murder of six million Jews, as well as the regime more than 27,000 Australian servicemen and women lost their lives fighting against," he said.
"It's no coincidence that these symbols were chosen – this vandalism comes amidst an alarming rise in antisemitism and hate crimes reported not just in NSW, but across the world."
A NSW Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia inquiries into the incident are being made.
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