Sydney Synagogue Blocked Over Terror Fears Will Try Again
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
SYDNEY (JTA) — A Chabad congregation whose bid for a new synagogue building was blocked out of fears that it would become a target for terrorism will resubmit plans to the local municipality.
Leaders of the congregation, known as Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe, or FREE, met Wednesday with Sydney’s Waverley Council to discuss the proposed synagogue and apartments to be built near the popular Bondi Beach.
The congregation made international headlines last week when a zoning court upheld the council’s decision to ban the construction of the synagogue in the Sydney suburb of Waverly because it could become the target of a terrorist attack.
Jewish leaders said the decision was anti-Semitic and a sop to terrorists, while the Waverley Council claimed FREE had not adequately addressed security concerns the congregation had raised in its own application.
After Wednesday’s meeting FREE announced they will submit plans for a new development application to build the synagogue in Bondi. It and the council suggested jointly that a proposed weekend protest would “be unproductive. ”
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