AJN: Two Melbourne Progressive synagogues were attacked in the past week in what the Jewish community�s security group has suggested was a response to the deepening crisis in Gaza.An exterior wall of Bentleigh Progressive Synagogue (BPS), as well as the footpath and a section of Centre Road were daubed last Thursday night with antisemitic slogans, including �F**k Jews� and �Die Jews�, as well as a swastika and Star of David joined with an equals sign.

At Kew East�s Leo Baeck Centre, vandals threw bricks through several glass windowpanes, which are only protected by bushes.

This is the fourth attack of its kind on BPS since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000.

Shul president Frank Moore said the congregation was �distressed that it has happened again�.

�It�s the worst attack we�ve had,� he told the AJN. �It disgusts me and distresses me that people can do this. It�s an attack on the community as a whole; it�s an attack on being Jewish.�

Gavin Queit, director of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria�s (JCCV�s) Community Security Group, said that the incidents are �probably based on what is happening in Israel at the moment. We have not had any major vandalism at shuls while there was relative calm in Israel, but when the news from Israel involves military operations, we invariably have an increase in incidents.�

However, Queit stressed there is no evidence to suggest the incidents at the two shuls are linked.

Constable Andrew McGuiness from Caulfield Police, who is investigating the Bentleigh attack, said that as there was no video footage or identifiable graffiti �tags� at the scene, apprehending a suspect would be difficult.

He said he couldn�t see anything in the handwriting or content of the graffiti to suggest it was linked to any previous attacks on BPS or any other shul.

JCCV president Anton Block said the attacks should be treated seriously regardless of the motivation behind them.

�[The vandals] may be kids who think it�s funny but that�s not the approach we should take to these things … in the times in which we live we have to be steadfast in how we respond.�

But Leo Baeck�s Rabbi Jonathan Keren Black said there was nothing to suggest the attack, which shul officials said was the first of its kind at the temple, was motivated by antisemitism.

The attacks come as the CSG prepares to issue a pamphlet to shuls around Melbourne advising congregants on how to minimise the risk of being attacked, following a surge in antisemitic incidents involving individuals earlier this.

Queit said that although the attacks don�t constitute a �particularly heightened threat� to the community, he advised shul-goers in particular to walk in groups and immediately report any suspicious behaviour.

Block agreed that it was important not to let the attacks diminish �our pride in being Jewish�.

The Melbourne attacks follow two incidents at Sydney shuls in the past month. On June 24, intruders broke in to Coogee Synagogue, damaging the handle of a Torah scroll and stealing the curtain from the ark. Earlier last month, vandals detonated the intercom at North Shore Temple Emanuel.