{"id":8064,"date":"2026-05-09T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8064\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:17:09","slug":"antisemitic-incident-at-childs-netball-game-in-maroubra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8064\/","title":{"rendered":"Antisemitic incident at child\u2019s netball game in Maroubra"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated May 9, 2026 \u2014 5:19pm,first published 4:00pm<\/p>\n

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NSW Police were called to a children\u2019s netball game in Maroubra on Saturday due to a \u201cdeeply distressing\u201d incident, after a mother allegedly hurled an antisemitic slur at a Jewish team.<\/p>\n

Police went to Heffron Park, Maroubra, just after 10am following reports that a woman had made \u201coffensive comments\u201d during an under 12s match between Maccabi Netball Club and Saints Netball Club.<\/p>\n

\"CommunityCommunity leaders have condemned an antisemitic incident at a netball game.Janie Barrett<\/p>\n

Several Maccabi parents who were at the game told the Herald that a mother from the Saints team said, \u201cF— the Jews\u201d, followed by \u201cthey should have all been eradicated\u201d.<\/p>\n

The slur was made in front of a Jewish mother who gave evidence to the royal commission during the week. The mother said it was \u201cshocking that people feel emboldened to say comments like this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin, who arrived at the courts shortly after the incident, said the abuse allegedly happened in \u201cplain sight\u201d. Apparently, \u201cit wasn\u2019t muttered under the breath\u201d, Ryvchin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sort of thing like it seems trivial, but it has an impact,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just words; it affects how [Jewish children] view themselves, their Jewish identity and their place in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command confirmed they had spoken to a 42-year-old woman and issued a move-on direction. Police said inquiries were continuing.<\/p>\n

In a statement to club members, Adam Dinte, president of Maccabi Netball Club, called the incident \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AlexAlex Ryvchin said children were deeply affected by antisemitism.Wolter Peeters<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of a deeply distressing antisemitic incident that occurred at a netball game today involving Jewish players and families from our club,\u201d Dinte said. \u201cWe are taking this matter extremely seriously.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Dani<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMaccabi NSW is communicating with NSW Police and the Community Security Group [CSG]. We are also writing a formal letter of complaint to the Randwick Netball Association and the opposing club.<\/p>\n

\u201cJewish players, parents, coaches, administrators and supporters have the right to participate in community sport safely and confidently, free from racism, abuse, intimidation or vilification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinte told the Herald that the young netball team was deeply distressed after the incident. \u201cOne of the girls in our team after the game told her mother that she wanted to take her uniform off because she didn\u2019t want to be identified as Jewish, and didn\u2019t feel safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The alleged confrontation comes just days after the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion began its hearings.<\/p>\n

This week, former High Court judge Virginia Bell heard evidence from the Jewish community, including 86-year-old Seafolly co-founder and Holocaust survivor Peter Halasz, who testified that the rise of antisemitism was no longer \u201ca faint echo of a distant past\u201d. He described the current climate as \u201cfrightening\u201d.<\/p>\n

A statement from Saints Netball Club said that it was aware of the alleged incident and stressed that it \u201cunequivocally condemns and disavows antisemitism in all its forms\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch remarks do not reflect the values, principles or standards of our club, our members, our players or our wider community,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Saints Netball Club offers our sincerest and most unreserved apologies to the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Mia<\/a><\/p>\n

The general manager of Maccabi Australia, the umbrella body of Australian Jewish Sport, David Goldman, said the incident was \u201ctragic and disturbing\u201d but was not isolated.<\/p>\n

He noted that a recent survey of 670 Maccabi members found nearly one in two respondents had either witnessed or experienced antisemitism in sport. \u201cThis isn\u2019t isolated to Sydney, and it\u2019s not isolated to netball. It\u2019s occurred across other sporting codes, and we\u2019ve seen certainly a spike in incident since October 7,\u201d Goldman said.<\/p>\n

Maccabi Australia chief executive Mandy Penkin said the alleged incident was \u201chorrifying\u201d but \u201cunsurprising\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just absolutely shocking that in a country like Australia, at an under-12 netball game, that kids should not feel comfortable to play sport wearing the Jewish colours for fear of being abused,\u201d Penkin said. \u201cThe fact that we see it pop up so often is heartbreaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said the incident must be \u201cswiftly investigated\u201d and there must be no tolerance for racism and discrimination. \u201cSport is all about bringing people together. Children\u2019s sport, in particular, should be a place of respectful competition and friendly exchange where kids should feel welcome and comfortable \u2013 regardless of background.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randwick Netball Association has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

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\"EmilyEmily Kowal<\/a> is an education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.\"AlexandraAlexandra Smith<\/a> is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated May 9, 2026 \u2014 5:19pm,first published 4:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21],"class_list":{"0":"post-8064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-austrlia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}