Victoria Police are investigating the sending of threatening anti-Semitic packages to a Jewish businessman and a Jewish community organisation.
The packages were received in Melbourne early last week and contained a note stating “Death of the Jews Secret Masterplan” and a CD with swastikas circled and the words “The Aryans”.
A police spokesman said an envelope containing “offensive material” was delivered to a Caulfield address about 10am last Monday. “The investigation is ongoing,” he said.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich said white supremacists and neo-Nazis had declared “open season on the Jewish community”.
“(They) are escalating their campaign which is calculated to traumatise, sow fear and put the entire community on high alert,” Dr Abramovich said.
“It’s ongoing, not targeted or sparked by any incident.”
He said the aim of the senders was to “terrorise” Jews and cause people to be afraid.
“That’s their plan of attack; to frighten and scare people,” he said. “Such abhorrent threats, targeting Jewish organisations and individuals, must be condemned by our leaders, and only harden our resolve to continue fighting this clear and present danger permeating our society.”
Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand president Yaakov Glasman said the hate mail should be taken seriously.
“Although mailings of this nature are infrequent within the Jewish community and are not viewed as reflecting broader community sentiment in any way, it is nonetheless taken seriously and is assessed as the vile material it is,” he said. “The sentiments they express must be utterly rejected in the strongest possible terms.”
Read the article by Tessa Akerman in The Australian.