• Why are brownshirts so bad at drawing? Mount Lawley MP Simon Millman is “appalled”.

“APPALLED, but hardly surprised” is how Mount Lawley MP Simon Millman felt after discovering a swastika in the heart of his electorate.

The racist graffiti was scrawled on a stop sign on Park Road in Mount Lawley. It’s not super close to any Jewish landmarks (the Temple David is a bit over half a kilometre away) but the electorate has a significant Jewish population.

“Any way you cut it, this is an invitation to hate,” Mr Millman says.

“At best it’s some fooligan’s lame, tone-deaf attempt to be provocative, but it’s lazy and puerile.

“At worst it’s evidence of what many in the Jewish community and their friends have been saying for some time: antisemitism is an ever-present reality, even in communities like Mount Lawley.

“Either way, graffiti like this relies on spite and hatefulness. It has no place in our society.”

Antisemitism rise

It’s been reported to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry which compiles a yearly antisemitism report.

The council’s 2018 report said: “366 antisemitic incidents were recorded, an increase of 59 per cent over the previous 12 month period.”

It noted the swastika was one of the most common anti-Jewish symbols found in graffiti. The council says most antisemitic incidents aren’t reported.

by DAVID BELL