Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Tim Blair: No Synagogue For You

He nails it. 

"Waverley Council declared that the application to build a synagogue “raises concerns as to the safety and security of future users of the Synagogue, nearby residents, motorists and pedestrians in Wellington Street.” Furthermore, “the physical measures proposed to deal with the identified threats will have an unacceptable impact on the streetscape and adjoining properties.”

"It’s not that the people attending the synagogue would have posed any kind of threat. Not at all. They’re as peaceful as can be. It’s that certain other people would be drawn to destroy the synagogue, and possibly take out a few non-Jews in the process."

"A reasonable person might conclude, then, that the problem involved not the synagogue but those intent on blowing up or otherwise attacking the place. Perhaps it might be an idea to deal with them instead, since they – not the synagogue and not Jewish people – are the source of any potential violence."

"But we’ve gone the other way, which opens up a whole new range of legislative and social issues. Now that we’re taking into account the attitudes of Islamist maniacs when it comes to urban design and planning, similar steps are clearly required in other areas."