A 68-year-old man has been charged after allegedly throwing a packet of bacon at and spitting on a passerby who approached him over antisemitic graffiti he allegedly daubed on a fence on a Melbourne main road.The man, from Macedon, an hour away in central Victoria, was charged last night with criminal damage, unlawful assault and marking offensive graffiti over the incident on Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, on January 31.The main street runs along the Port Philip shore and is close to the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, which was firebombed in December.
Police say the man, allegedly wrote graffiti on a fence in Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Port Phillip, on 31 January. (Google Maps)"There is absolutely no place at all in our society for antisemitic or hate-based symbols and behaviour," Victoria Police saidPort Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford said the council had removed the "significant" graffiti."Our closely-knit Jewish community is still reeling from the December arson attack at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea," Crawford said."While, thankfully, this incident did not involve physical injuries, it is still a cowardly attack targeting Port Phillip's Jewish community."The 68-year-old was bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on May 6.
The Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne's south-east was left gutted after a suspicious blaze on Friday morning, leaving the Jewish community in deep shock. (Nine)The incident follows antisemitic incidents in Sydney, Byron Bay, NSW and Perth.Last month a caravan found in Sydney's north-west containing explosives said to be capable of causing a "mass casualty event" targeting Jews was labelled a terrorism threat.