Arabic version: غلين إيرا تعتمد أول استراتيجية لمكافحة معاداة السامية في فيكتوريا

According to ABC News, Glen Eira City Council has become the first Victorian council to endorse an antisemitism strategy, aimed at addressing rising incidents affecting the Jewish community in Melbourne’s south-east. It is the second council in Australia to adopt such a plan.

Glen Eira represents Australia’s largest Jewish community. A report by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the Community Security Group found that 43 per cent of reported antisemitic incidents in Victoria last year occurred in the municipality.

Under the strategy, councillors will receive annual antisemitism and trauma-informed training. The council will also provide public information on reporting incidents, work with high-risk sites on potential security improvements and examine faster responses to incidents, including graffiti removal.

Mayor Simone Zmood said residents had been affected by a growing number of threatening incidents since the October 7 attacks. Hatzolah Melbourne, a volunteer emergency medical first responder service based in Caulfield North, was among 400 Jewish organisations and community members that helped shape the strategy.

Victoria Police said it had made just under 19,000 visits to places of cultural significance in almost three years since the October 7 attacks, with 84 per cent of patrols conducted across Melbourne’s south-east under Operation Park. Police said there had been 585 antisemitism incidents, 73 Islamophobia reports and 316 arrests during that period.