Hamas supporters abuse Israel, Jews during pro-Palestine protest at Sydney Opera House

Hundreds of pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas supporters on Monday marched to the iconic Sydney Opera House to protest against Israel amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Palestine after Hamas launched a deadly surprise attack against Israel on Saturday. The protests started hours after the iconic landmark was lit in blue and white colours in support of Israel.

Many videos of the protest have now gone viral on X formerly known as Twitter. According to one of these videos, the protestors were seen chanting anti-Semitic slogans such as “Gas the Jews” and “F*** the Jews”. They also raised religious slogans and were seen carrying placards reading, “Israel is a terrorist state,” according to another video. One of the banners also reportedly read, “Where there is apartheid, resistance is justified.”

The pro-Palestine protestors also set Israeli flags ablaze during the course of this protest, according to yet another video from the protest. “Burning Israeli flags at the opera house in Sydney- is this how Palestinians pray for peace while Israelis are being slaughtered in their houses,” Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Liebler wrote on X while sharing a video from the protest. 

Despite illuminating its building with blue and white colours, the Sydney Opera House was slammed for its muted efforts in honoring the civilians who have lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas war so far, as per media reports.

Commenting on the protests, New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns said that it is an “intolerable” situation where the Jewish community have been told or made to feel like they cannot participate in their own city due to pro-Palestine protests. Describing the scenes at Opera House as “abhorrent”, Minns also said that anyone caught participating in “racial vilification or incitement of hatred or incitement of violence” would be charged. 

NSW Police urged Jews to not visit the Sydney Opera House and/or areas around it given the violent pro-Palestine protests. NSW police commissioner told news agency AFP that the police will try to identify anyone who committed offences during the rally and that the entire protest was filmed using CCTV cameras. 

Greens NSW MP Jenny Leong condemned the pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House in her post on X. “But apparently lightning up the Australian Parliament and Sydney Opera House in support of those Palestinian people in Gaza into oblivion into legit. Disgraceful to see political leaders fail to recognise the complexity and reality of this human rights and humanitarian crisis,” Leong wrote in a post on X. 

Commenting on the overall Israel-Hamas situation, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that the Middle East was “complex” and acknowledged the “ongoing suffering of Palestinians” and “hardship because of the conflict, on Israeli citizens”. 

Albanese said that Australia was concerned that the situation could escalate into a broader conflict. “This does not provide any solution- it just provides for the murder of innocent civilians,” he added. 

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