“The death threat graffitied on Mount Scopus College, Victoria’s oldest and largest Jewish school, has left our community devastated and in shock. Mount Scopus is a welcoming school where our children and grandchildren go to learn. I went to school there, my children went to school there. Tens of thousands of Jewish Victorians were educated at Mount Scopus. I cannot comprehend the depravity of the person who decided to scrawl that slogan on the school fence.”

“We cannot let this behaviour continue. The JCCV has been warning government, police, other leaders for months that we are heading towards a dangerous place where anti-Jewish hate is becoming normalised. That message has not been heeded and look where we are today. This graffiti cannot be seen as anything other than a death threat against Victorian children on the basis of their faith and culture. It is time for clear action – increase penalties for serious vilification, lower the barrier to prosecution and take steps to prevent hate from continuing to thrive.”