Bomb Planted on Car of Pro-Palestinian Home in Sydney
The device, which looked like a jerry can with rags, a lighter and bolts attached to it, was discovered on the hood of the car parked in the driveway of the home in Botany, a suburb about 10 miles from the city center. The home had a Palestinian flag and a sign with messages about the Gaza war on the front fence.
A note on the side of the device read “Enough! Take down flag! One chance!!!!”
The police said they were called to the scene around 2 p.m. and that the bomb squad had rendered the device safe. A robot used for bomb disposal was seen in a police vehicle at the site.
The residents of the home, who identified themselves only as Theo and his partner for safety reasons, told The Guardian Australia that they believed the device was planted overnight. They said they had received many messages of support from people, but also felt “scared, intruded on, violated and angry.”
Theo said he had put his phone number on the sign to invite dialogue about the conflict. “I don’t know what to think,” he said. “Unfortunately this did happen.”
The incident drew swift criticism from political figures and activists, who denounced it as an act of intimidation and hatred.
Simon Birmingham, a Liberal member of Parliament, called the act “reprehensible” on X/Twitter. “Australia is a democratic nation of free speech,” he wrote. “Whether driven by disagreement, intolerance or Islamophobia, this act has no place in our nation.”
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Andrew Giles, the acting home affairs minister, said there was “no place in Australia for antisemitism, Islamophobia or any form of hate speech,” and urged anyone with information to contact the police.
Nasser Mashni, a spokesman for the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said the act was “another alarming sign of the anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia that is rife” in Australian communities. “It’s appalling to see these attempts to terrorise members of the community into silence for their acts of solidarity with Palestinians,” he said.
The incident came amid a surge in anti-Muslim bias and hate in several countries, including Australia, following the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, which has killed more than 22,700 Palestinians.
Source: Agencies
