The lie that last month’s caravan bomb plot ‘wasn’t a terror attack’ and ‘wasn’t motivated by anti-Semitism’ is in tatters, with new revelations about its mastermind.
Apparently following the lead of UK police in lying and misleading about Islamic terrorism and anti-Semitism, NSW police have for weeks insisted that the caravan packed with explosives was a ‘hoax’. They further insisted that there was no anti-Semitic motive, but that the instigator was ‘simply hoping to leverage favourable treatment by providing fabricated information to police’.
These mendacious statements were seized on by Greens MPs and Muslim political figures to dismiss the weeks of violence directed at Sydney’s Jewish community.
The lie is completely busted, but the truth has taken its time getting its boots on – with no help from authorities.
Last week the Australian revealed that Sayet Erhan Akca, the fugitive alleged to be behind a string of arson and graffiti attacks on Jewish targets, had posted vile anti-Semitic slurs for years before fleeing Australia, after being charged with alleged drug importation offences […]
The Australian can now reveal more evidence that 35-year-old Akca held longstanding and publicly expressed anti-Semitic views, despite claims by police that the “Mr Big” – whose identity they have not yet publicly confirmed – was motivated by personal gain and not hate.
The facts are that Akca was deep in the anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi mire. Funny how the people who can spot Nazis under every bed are so willing to take the side of actual neo-Nazis.
Many of the newly unearthed comments come in online conversations the former gym owner had with a fellow weightlifter named “Ronny” who claims he became a neo-Nazi after reading Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
On Facebook, Ronny posted a photo of a copy of the Nazi manifesto sitting between two skulls, with the words “Aryans assemble” below it. Akca responded “Rise of the 5th Reich. Heil Ronny”. Separately Akca posted: “I ain’t racist I have a Jew disorder.”
In one online conversation, Ronny claimed he had been banned from Facebook numerous times for hate speech and “the Jews r always watching me”. He told Akca: “Maybe they even hacked into your gym CCTV, who knows?”, to which Akca responds: “Zeig (sic) heil, Zeig Heil Zeig heil !!!!!”
Akca “liked” a statement by Ronny that “Hitler did nothing wrong” and when Ronny posted “Happy birthday mein fuhrer”, Akca responded: “Heil”.
In another, Ronny wrote: “Jesus was black. Das judens (the Jews) are wack”, to which Akca responds: “Double ranked! Heil.”
At least these lads aren’t doing much to dispel the notion that neo-Nazis aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed.
In yet another conversation, Ronny said: “I’m the new fuhrer. I’m not a white suprenesist (sic) but im an alpha male supremesist (sic). If you are a beta cuckold u will be exterminated / gassed …” to which Akca responds: “Zionists included”.
Lest anyone still try to defend this hate as ‘just shitposting’, Akca went out of his way to target Jewish groups.
In January 2018, Akca wrote on the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (NSW JBD) Facebook page: “How did 6 million die when only 3.2 registered Jews in Europe at the time?”
The following day, in response to a post by the JBD about vandals targeting the Jewish community by spraying swastikas on cars, Akca wrote “Zeig heil”.
The comments were recorded in a report on anti-Semitism in Australia in 2018 published by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
With their damaging lies busted, police are ducking for cover.
On Sunday, the AFP declined to answer a series of questions from The Australian, including whether it was aware of any anti-Semitic views by the individual it suspected of being the “mastermind” behind the attacks, and if so, why it had said the attacks were “concocted by criminals for personal benefit” but failed to draw attention to the alternative motivation of anti-Semitism.
Oh, we all know why. Just like UK police, they’re terrified that telling the truth will ‘offend’ Muslims and make them go all explody-stabby. Well, more so than they already are.
NSW Police also declined to respond to specific questions, saying it “cannot confirm the identity of any person or persons of interest, and as the matter is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide further comment to what is already on the public record”.
At a press conference last Monday, NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Hudson was asked specifically: “You don’t have evidence that it is being driven by hate, you say it’s alleged that it’s organised crime?”
“Correct”, Mr Hudson replied.
The question that naturally follows is whether, like UK police and politicians with the Southport stabbings, they knew about the extremism behind the plot but deliberately lied about it. If so, it’s not just a lie: it’s a dangerous lie. Covering up the truth only makes things worse.
On the weekend ECAJ co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin told The Australian that the “reckless and irresponsible” dismissal or downplaying of anti-Semitism by police as a motivating factor had led to increased harassment and vilification of Jews.
“It has exposed dangerous failings by authorities, political leaders and public figures who chose to characterise the firebombings that hit Jewish targets as a hoax or con-job unconnected to anti-Semitic ideology, and to do so before the investigation had been concluded,” he said.
It’s also exposed the cowardice, biases and, often, hateful ideologies of the same figures.
