MELBOURNE: Arsonists extensively damaged a Melbourne synagogue on Friday in what Australia’s prime minister condemned as an antisemitic attack on Australian values.
The blaze in the Adass Israel Synagogue is an escalation in targeted attacks in Australia since the war began between Israel and Hamas last year. Cars and buildings have been vandalized and torched around Australia in protests inspired by the war.
A witness who had come to the synagogue to pray saw two masked men spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms inside the building at 4:10 a.m., officials said.
About 60 firefighters with 17 fire trucks responded to the blaze, which police said caused extensive damage.
Investigators have yet to identify a motive, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed antisemitism.
“This was a shocking incident to be unequivocally condemned. There is no place in Australia for an outrage such as this,” Albanese told reporters.
“To attack a place of worship is an attack on Australian values. To attack a synagogue is an act of antisemitism, is attacking the right that all Australians should have to practice their faith in peace and security,” he added.
Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon noted that dozens of pro-Palestinian activists staged a three-hour protest outside The Great Synagogue in downtown Sydney on Wednesday, demanding sanctions against Israel. Worshippers were prevented from leaving the synagogue during the demonstration.
“We are talking about the values you expect Australians to follow, not my own values. And for me it’s clear that everyone should have the right to worship his own religion, own beliefs, as long as they also respect others,” Maimon said.
A religious leader at the torched mosque, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, described the arsonists as “thugs.”
“Tonight is the Sabbath. We must all go and find a sense of calmness, comradery and community by gathering for the Sabbath tonight and praying together as one community,” Klatmann told reporters outside the synagogue.
Federal law in January banned the Nazi salute and the public display of Nazi symbols in response to growing antisemitism.
The government appointed special envoys this year to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the community.
The Jewish envoy, Jillian Segal, a Sydney lawyer and business executive, said the Jewish community in Australia was “feeling ever more rattled by what is going on.”
“I’m very concerned. Here is one major escalation in terms of burning synagogues which has resonance as to what happened during the Holocaust,” Segal said.
Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan noted in a statement that the synagogue was “built by Holocaust survivors.”
Many of the synagogue’s original worshippers were post-World War II immigrants from Hungary.
Allan offered 100,000 Australian dollars ($64,300) to help repair the synagogue and said there would be an increased police presence in the area.
“Every available resource will be deployed to find these criminals who tried to tear a community apart,” Allan said.
“We stand against antisemitism now and forever,” she added.
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the broader Australian community needed to condemn the arson attack.
“I’ve been getting phone calls this morning from the Hindu community, from other people, from good people who are prepared to stand up and that’s my message for this morning to Australia, to the good people of Australia,” Aghion told reporters.
“Don’t leave the Jewish people behind. Don’t isolate us. Don’t leave us exposed to the risk of attacks upon our religious institutions, our communal institutions. Stand with us. Stand against this hate. And stand against this kind of horrendous attack which should not occur on Australian soil,” he added.
Australian leader blames antisemitism for arson that extensively damaged a Melbourne synagogue
https://arab.news/mut4t
Australian leader blames antisemitism for arson that extensively damaged a Melbourne synagogue
- Fire broke out at 4:10 a.m. in the Adass Israel Synagogue when some congregants were already inside
- Members of the congregation form human chain to remove religious items from the damaged synagogue
King Charles to attend Canada’s state opening of parliament
- Charles, along with his wife Queen Camilla, will visit Canada from May 26 to May 27
LONDON: Britain’s King Charles will attend Canada’s state opening of parliament in Ottawa, Buckingham Palace said on Friday, in a clear show of support for the former British colony of which he is still head of state.
Charles, along with his wife Queen Camilla, will visit Canada from May 26 to May 27, the palace said.
The monarch’s attendance comes after his recent acknowledgment that he is also the king of Canada, a country that US President Donald Trump has made clear he has designs on.
The visit to Canada would be Charles’ second overseas trip this year, after his visit to Italy where he held a private meeting with Pope Francis before the pontiff’s demise.
German spy agency brands far-right AfD as ‘extremist’, opens way for closer surveillance
- A 1,100-page experts’ report found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organization
- The BfV agency needs such a classification to be able to monitor a political party
BERLIN: Germany’s spy agency on Friday classified the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “extremist,” enabling it to step up monitoring of the country’s biggest opposition party, which decried the move as a “blow against democracy.”
A 1,100-page experts’ report found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organization, a designation that allows the security services to recruit informants and intercept party communications, and which has revived calls for the party’s ban.
“Central to our assessment is the ethnically and ancestrally defined concept of the people that shapes the AfD, which devalues entire segments of the population in Germany and violates their human dignity,” the BfV domestic intelligence agency said in a statement.
“This concept is reflected in the party’s overall anti-migrant and anti-Muslim stance,” it said, accusing the AfD of stirring up “irrational fears and hostility” toward individuals and groups.
The BfV agency needs such a classification to be able to monitor a political party because it is more legally constrained than other European intelligence services, a reflection of Germany’s experience under both Nazi and Communist rule.
Other organizations classified as extremist in Germany are neo-Nazi groups such as the National Democratic Party (NDP), Islamist groups including Islamic State, and far-left ones such as the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany.
The agency was able to act after the AfD last year lost a court case in which it had challenged its previous classification by the BfV as an entity suspected of extremism.
The move follows other setbacks the far-right across Europe has suffered in recent months as it seeks to translate surging support into power. They include a ban on France’s Marine Le Pen contesting the 2027 presidential election after her embezzlement conviction, and the postponement of Romania’s presidential vote after a far-right candidate won the first round.
“VERY SERIOUS. After France and Romania, another theft of Democracy?” wrote Matteo Salvini, deputy Italian prime minister and leader of far-right party, the League, on X.
The AfD denounced its designation as a politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalize it.
“The AfD will continue to take legal action against these defamatory attacks that endanger democracy,” co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said in a statement.
A BAN?
German parliament could now attempt to limit or halt public funding for the AfD — but for that authorities would need evidence that the party is explicitly out to undermine or even overthrow German democracy.
Meanwhile, civil servants who belong to an organization classified as “extremist” face possible dismissal, depending on their role within the entity, according to Germany’s interior ministry.
The stigma could also make it harder for the AfD, which currently tops several polls and is Germany’s most successful far-right party since World War Two, to attract members.
The BfV decision comes days before conservative leader Friedrich Merz is due to be sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor and amid a heated debate within his party over how to deal with the AfD in the new Bundestag, or lower house of parliament.
The AfD won a record number of seats in the national election in February, coming in second behind Merz’s conservatives, which in theory entitled it to chair several key parliamentary committees.
A prominent Merz ally, Jens Spahn, has called for the AfD to be treated as a regular opposition party to prevent it casting itself as a “victim.”
However, other established parties, and many conservatives have rejected that approach — and could use Friday’s news to justify blocking AfD attempts to lead committees.
“Starting today, no one can make excuses anymore: This is not a democratic party,” said Manuela Schwesig, premier of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and senior member of the Social Democrats (SPD), who are about to form a government with the conservatives.
Under the new government, the authorities should review whether to ban the AfD, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil told Bild newspaper.
SPD’s outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday called for a careful evaluation and warned against rushing to outlaw the party.
Created in 2013 to protest the euro zone bailouts, the euroskeptic AfD morphed into an anti-migration party after Germany’s decision to take in a large wave of refugees in 2015.
NATO chief Rutte floats including broader security spending to meet Trump defense target
- Rutte’s proposal could allow the US president to declare a win at a NATO summit in The Hague
- NATO’s current defense spending goal is at least 2 percent of GDP
BRUSSELS: NATO chief Mark Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defense spending to 3.5 percent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 percent to broader security-related spending to meet Donald Trump’s demand for a 5 percent target, people familiar with the idea told Reuters.
Rutte’s proposal could allow the US president to declare a win at a NATO summit in The Hague in June while not committing European nations and Canada to a 5 percent pledge on military spending that many see as politically and economically unviable.
NATO’s current defense spending goal is at least 2 percent of GDP, met by 22 of its 32 members. But leaders across NATO say that goal is no longer sufficient, as they see Russia as a much greater threat after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The definition of what would fall into the broader category of defense-related spending would still have to be agreed. Officials said it might include spending to upgrade roads and bridges to support the transport of heavy military vehicles.
Asked whether NATO could confirm that Rutte had made the proposal, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart did not reply directly. She said Rutte had “repeatedly said that increased defense spending is needed in order to meet the capability targets that allies will soon agree and to ensure fairer burden sharing among allies.”
“This will likely involve not only higher investment in defense according to the agreed NATO definitions but also additional investment in related areas like infrastructure and resilience,” Hart said in an email.
“The Secretary General is working in close consultation with allies to prepare decisions on this for our Summit in The Hague,” she said.
India’s new deepwater port announces presence on global maritime map
- Port will triple India’s cargo handling capacity and reduce foreign transshipment dependence
- Critics say project comes at high environmental and human cost
NEW DELHI: India on Friday registered its presence on the global maritime map with the inauguration of its first deepwater multipurpose seaport at Vizhinjam in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned the Vizhinjam port, built at a cost of $1.04 billion under a public-private partnership with business conglomerate the Adani Group and the Kerala government holding the majority stake.
Late last year, the port began limited operations and received MSC Turkiye — one of the world’s largest cargo ships with a capacity of more than 24,000 containers — making it the first port in India to handle a vessel of that size.
The port is to be built in four phases by 2028 at a total cost of 180 billion Indian rupees ($2.11 billion). In full-page advertisements in several national and local dailies a day before the inauguration, the Adani Group — considered close to Modi — said the port is only 10 nautical miles from global shipping routes and will have an annual capacity of up to 5 million TEUs (20ft equivalent units).
TEU is a unit of measurement used to quantify the capacity of container ships and terminals. It represents the volume of a standard 20-foot shipping container and is a common way to express the cargo-carrying capacity of vessels and facilities.
“The existing capacity of this transshipment hub will triple in the coming time,” Modi said in his inaugural address.
“So far 75 per cent of the Indian transshipment used to take place outside the country. This used to cause huge revenue loss to the country.
“Now this situation is going to change.
“Now the money of this country will be utilized for the service of the nation. The money which used to go outside will now bring new economic opportunities for the people of Kerala and Vizhinjam.”
India has 13 major ports and 217 non-major ports, but none of them are deepwater multipurpose transshipment ports, which include terminals where cargo containers are shifted from one vessel to another before reaching their final destination. With India until now lacking infrastructure to handle large vessels, close to 75 percent of its transshipment cargo went through external ports like Colombo, Singapore and Jebel Ali, UAE.
Industry bodies see a big opportunity with the opening of the Vizhinjam port.
“It’s a mother port. One of the kinds in the country. It is a fully automated port, and the port can handle any ship, the biggest in the world. It is hardly 10 nautical miles from the international sea route. It’s very conveniently set. It’s a God-given gift to the country,” S.N. Raghuchandran Nair, president of the Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News.
“Cargos originating from this place will cut down the time by almost two weeks, it is also going to save $600 to $1,000 per container in view of the handling charges and various things. This is going to be a big saver. You will save 2,000 to 3,000 crore rupees ($2.5 million to $3.5 million) by way of foreign exchange every year once this port opens fully.”
The Vizhinjam port has been controversial from the beginning and faced protests from fishermen and environmentalists over displacement and harm to coastal and marine life.
Kerala journalist K.A. Shaji made a documentary, “Stolen Shorelines,” highlighting the displacement of fishermen and environmental damage.
He questions the need for the port.
“Actually, there is a big port in Colombo and international movements of freight are through Singapore, Dubai and Colombo, there is no need for the big vessels to come to Vizhinjam, which is in a corner of Kerala and it has to take a deviation from the main route,” Shaji told Arab News.
“I feel in the highly competitive world of international freight movement Vizhinjam can do very little, but environmental and socio-economic costs are very high.”
He said thousands of families have been affected by the port, directly and indirectly.
“Directly more than 450 fishermen’s families have been impacted and indirectly over 4,500 families have been impacted as coastal erosion and change of the direction of the waves by the impact of the project destroyed most of the houses and livelihood.”
Polish right-wing presidential candidate visits Trump
- Nawrocki has the backing of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice
- “An immensely important meeting... with US President D. Trump at the White House,” Nawrocki said
WARSAW: Poland’s nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki said on Friday he had an “important” visit with US President Donald Trump at the White House, drawing accusations of election interference from some governing politicians.
Nawrocki has the backing of the right-wing opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) and outgoing President Andrzej Duda and is polling second two weeks ahead of the May 18 ballot.
The frontrunner, pro-European Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, has the support of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO).
“An immensely important meeting... with US President D. Trump at the White House and joint talks on the strategic alliance as well as future cooperation,” Nawrocki wrote on his Facebook page.
He added a campaign hashtag and photos of the two men posing at the White House during the Thursday visit.
The White House also posted the photos to X and said: “President Donald J. Trump welcomes Polish presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki to the Oval Office.”
Nawrocki separately told TV Republika that “President Trump said, ‘You will win’... I understood that as him wishing me success in the upcoming elections.”
Some lawmakers from the governing coalition took to X on Friday to criticize the meeting.
MP Roman Giertych accused Trump of being Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “friend” and of “brazenly interfering in the elections in Poland.”
Fellow lawmaker Tomasz Trela wrote: “Mr Nawrocki, Trump will not be choosing our president for us, just like he didn’t choose Canada’s prime minister.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals won Canada’s election on Monday after a campaign defined by threats from Trump.
Nawrocki, a 42-year-old historian, has been campaigning on the slogan of “Poland first, Poles first.”
While Nawrocki does not question Poland’s support for neighboring Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, he has denounced the generous benefits accorded to Ukrainians refugees.
He also wants Poland to boost its troop numbers and has called for controls on the border with Germany to keep out migrants.
