We know what you said last summer

Jenny Leong, the NSW State Member for Newtown, took almost 24 hours to respond to last weekend’s vandalism of a synagogue in her electorate. The response, when it came, was thoroughly unsatisfactory.

The Newtown Synagogue, in Sydney’s inner west, was vandalised with swastikas on Saturday in an attack, which police said also involved an attempt to burn the synagogue down.

There were several other antisemitic incidents in the surrounding days: swastikas sprayed on the Southern Sydney Synagogue in Allawah;  the antisemitic vandalism of a house, five cars and a trailer in Queens Park; and offensive comments written on a Marrickville poster.

Leong’s delayed response was justified by the fact that she was “not in Sydney”, an implausible excuse implying a lack of access to modern technology anywhere outside of Sydney.

The delay may say something about how much Leong cares about her Jewish constituents, but the real issue is what her statement blatantly failed to say.

Not once was the word ‘Jews’, or even ‘antisemitism’ used to describe the attack. Leong’s media team must have been doing verbal gymnastics to describe the attack on a synagogue without referring to Jews or antisemitism.

Leong’s statement also failed to express any empathy for the Jewish community. She offered no condolences for the victims of the attack. She made no acknowledgment of Rabbi Eli Feldman or of the Newtown congregation.

Leong called the attack “unacceptable” and “not ok” which is similar to how I speak to my five-year-old when “I’m not angry, just disappointed”. To clarify, my five-year-old has never vandalised property or committed arson.