Multicultural Sydney: Bondi Jew Bashing Latest

Community on alert as Jewish family bashed at Bondi after walking home from Sabbath dinner

Clementine Cuneo and LeighVan Den Broeke
The Daily Telegraph
October 28,2013

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WITH his eye bloodied and his hand bandaged, Jewish man Shlomo Behar was yesterday at a loss to comprehend how anyone could allegedly bash him and his parents because of their religion.

Mr Behar, 27, parents Elias, 66, and Lea, 62, and two other men - Shlomo Ben-Haim, 48, and Zeev Aronstam, 39 - were walking home from a Jewish Sabbath dinner in Bondi when they were set upon in an alleged anti-Semitic attack on Saturday.

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The alleged incident has "shocked and distressed" the local Jewish community, with senior leaders saying some people were now fearful of repeat attacks.

Recovering at his parents' Bondi home yesterday, Mr Behar struggled to speak clearly, with his lip swollen and lacerated. "It's all been very unpleasant ... very unexpected," he said.

His father, the most seriously injured of all five victims, arrived home yesterday after a day in hospital with bleeding on the brain. He had a black eye and severe bruising to his face yesterday.

The Behar family and their two friends were walking home from dinner along Blair St about 12.30am when a group of up to eight males allegedly began yelling derogatory comments before assaulting them, police said.

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Four of the victims were wearing skullcaps at the time, which Jewish community leaders believe may have made them targets.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president Yair Miller described it as "the worst incident of anti-Semitic violence in Sydney for many years", adding it had left a feeling of "great distress" among the Jewish community.

"Australia is an overwhelmingly tolerant and peaceful country - however there are some people who are motivated by hatred and racism, which has no place in our society," Mr Miller said.

Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW president Stepan Kerkyasharian said the board would 
investigate.



"I think we should look at taking action," he said.

While also calling for calm, Mr Kerkyasharian said anyone found guilty of racial vilification should be dealt with appropriately.

"We are a fairly mature society where we have a very clear understanding that we are people of different racial backgrounds," Mr Kerkyasharian said. "We have to live together in a manner where we accept diversity and respect diversity."

Two 17-year-old males were refused bail in Parramatta Children's Court yesterday, charged with affray, while a 23-year-old man will face Waverley Court on December 3.

Police are still looking for at least five other males believed to have been involved in the alleged attack who ran from the scene.