The government of Australia lost its showdown with terrorist sympathizers on Sunday, as thousands ignored government orders to join unauthorized pro-Palestinian rallies across the country, including a huge gathering in Sydney that officials specifically urged citizens to avoid.
The government of New South Wales (NSW) had a very awkward week as it struggled to explain why Hamas sympathizers were allowed to stage an ugly rally at the Sydney Opera House last Monday night, replete with cries to “Gas the Jews!”
The only person arrested at this hateful spectacle was a Jewish man who showed up to express support for Israel, even though the “Gas the Jews” rally was held without proper permits and featured illegal use of incendiary devices. The man was told his presence could be a threat to public order, even though the opera house was lit with the colors of Israel in sympathy for the victims of Hamas.
NSW premier Chris Minns eventually apologized to the Jewish community and urged Jews to “feel that they can have full access to this city, that they can enjoy its life, that they can be part of its culture, that they can commemorate together during solemn occasions.”
Minns scoffed at the notion that Hamas sympathizers would “commandeer Sydney’s streets” with future demonstrations, while police officials promised that permission for another “Free Palestine” rally on Sunday would be denied.
The rally went off anyway, with an estimated 2,000 attendees flooding the streets of Sydney to wave Palestinian flags, only a week after Hamas butchered thousands of Israeli civilians and took dozens of hostages, including women and children.
“We saw earlier this week the premier of New South Wales said don’t come to this protest. Well, there are thousands of people here,” demonstration organizer Farhad Ali said.
Federal Greens Sen. Mehreen Faruqi addressed the Sydney pro-Palestinian rally and demanded the Opera House be lit with the colors of the Palestinian flag, the same way it was lit with Israel’s colors on the night of the “Gas the Jews” rally.
“Which landmarks were lit up in the colors of the Palestinian flag in 2014 when Israel bombed civilians from one end of Gaza to the other? Where are the colors of the Palestinian flag when civilians are being killed right now by the Israeli bombing?” she asked.
Large pro-Palestinian rallies were also reported in Adelaide and Melbourne, with up to 10,000 attendees at the Melbourne march.
The police decided not to deploy the “extraordinary powers” they had threatened to use against the pro-terrorist gatherings, such as stopping and searching the demonstrators.
Some of the participants told reporters they were “not against Jewish people,” but merely supported Palestinians in their struggle against “Zionists.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry issued a statement denouncing the rallies as profoundly insensitive to the Israeli victims, and said some of the participants were heard “chanting in euphemisms calling for Israel’s destruction.”
“The Palestinian ‘resistance’ was revealed in the horrors of October 7 and on the steps of the Opera House,” Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said, referring to the “Gas the Jews” rally last weekend.
“The more disciplined among them have simply reverted to chanting in euphemisms calling for Israel’s destruction and the murder of civilians. The fact that these rallies are taking place just days after the deadliest slaughter of Jews for 80 years, says it all,” Ryvchin said.
The crowds reportedly chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is not much of a euphemism, as it explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the death or dispossession of its Jewish citizens.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on a protester in Sydney screaming “get the f**king Jews wiped out,” which eventually earned him a word from the police.
Before that, when a member of the public objected to his rhetoric, the man said, “I don’t care as a Muslim. I have a right to say.”
As he was walking away from the police, the protester claimed he works at a Royal Australian Air Force base.
The SMH reported protesters in Melbourne were caught illegally lighting road flares, but police said the demonstrations were “largely peaceful” and featured nothing as vicious as the “Gas the Jews” chant from the Opera House rally. No arrests were made.
A much smaller group of Israel supporters stood in solidarity with the victims of Hamas, including those kidnapped by the terrorist group for use as human shields, at the main shopping mall in Perth on Sunday.
