Cairns, Queensland – well-known traffic control company has sparked outrage after an antisemitic message was displayed on the back of one of its vehicles.
Drivers were shocked to see an electronic message board with the words ‘JEWS DID 9/11’ on the back of a ute in Cairns, north Queensland, on Friday.
The vehicle belonged to traffic control company A2O Traffic Solutions.
The message had been referring to the horrific terrorist attack that took down the World Trade Centre and claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people in the US in 2001.
Conspiracy theorists have been peddling harmful rumours the Jewish community and Israel were linked to the event.
The 9/11 Commission found that Khalid Sheik Mohammed was the man who came up with the idea of the attack and took it to al-Qaeda, who made the horror a reality.
Local Samantha Brookes said she had been driving home from shops in nearby Kanimbla when she was confronted with the shocking display.
‘I took down the license and vehicle unit number and rang the office,’ she told the Cairns Post.
The 22-year-old said the act was unacceptable and she was ‘disgusted anyone would display such a message’.
‘I would not have thought we had Nazis up here in Cairns,’ she said.
A representative for A20 Traffic Solutions told the Cairns Post he had received several calls from the public and he had already spoken with the driver.
‘The driver said he had no idea of the message being displayed and that his friend did it as a joke,’ he said.
‘We are taking this very seriously, we take all matters seriously.’
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia the message on the back of the ute was a ‘brazen act of antisemitism’.
He described it as ‘a stomach-turning stain on our community’.
‘Make no mistake: this dangerous slur specifically targeted the Jewish community for vilification, and who knows how many people saw this outrage,’ he said.
‘Hateful conspiracy theories and myths that fan the flames of hostility and incite violence against the Jewish community have no place in Cairns, and the driver who chose to traffic in such revolting bigotry so openly should be dismissed.’
Dr Abramovich said it was difficult to believe the act was intended as a ‘joke’.
‘Words are bullets and have real life consequences and often result in physical acts of aggression against the Jewish community,’ he said.
‘At a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing and spreading like wildfire across the country, companies have a duty to effectively respond to any expression of prejudice in a decisive way that sends the message that this type of vitriol will never find a safe haven in their midst.’
A20 Traffic Solutions declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
