An Australian Jewish man is speaking out after being punched and verbally abused in broad daylight on a Brisbane street while walking to synagogue on Shabbat with his 11-year old son.
After noticing that the man was wearing a kippah, the assailant began screaming “Heil Hitler” and making Nazi salutes.
“At first, I didn’t realize what he was shouting, but when I looked into his eyes they were filled with hate towards me,” the community member told Australian Jewish news daily J-Wire.
The man said that the attacker proceeded to punch him in the face and walk away.
He later gave a report of the incident to Queensland Police.
Jason Steinberg, the vice president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies (QJBD), told the news outlet that the attack demonstrated why tougher laws against hate-based attacks need to be in place.
“For this brave father and his son to be subjected to abuse like this on the streets of Brisbane is shocking and deplorable,” Steinberg said.
He called the issue a “matter of urgency” and repeated his call for hate crime laws to be updated.
He added: “Our community, along with all other minority groups, deserve to live in Queensland without fear, and to be safe from harassment and incitement.”
In August, the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies released a survey that found 6 in 10 members of the Queensland Jewish community had been victimized by anti-Semitism.
Steinberg said that the survey demonstrated why Queensland needed to update hate legislation that was 30-years old.
"That’s why the government’s looking into the laws and that was part of our research – that they’re looking at shoring up the vilification legislation and hate crimes to make it harder for people to do this,” he said.