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Mass anti-Israel protests sweep Australia, calls to recognize Palestinian state

omrif — Sun, 03 Aug 2025 08:35:04 +0000

Tens of thousands marched on Sunday in a major anti-Israel demonstration in Sydney, Australia, under the banner of the "Walk for Humanity." The protest took place amid growing domestic pressure on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to follow the UK and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state.

Protesters marched across Sydney's Harbour Bridge despite heavy rain and strong winds, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against Israel. Some banged on pots and pans to protest the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. A parallel demonstration took place in Melbourne.

Alongside the growing anti-Israel sentiment, Australia's Jewish community has been hit by a sharp surge in antisemitic incidents since the start of the war.

The protest in Sydney drew tens of thousands, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Photo: Getty Images

Call for sanctions against Israel

"We've had enough," said Doug, a man in his 60s interviewed by Reuters. "When people around the world come together and raise their voices, evil can be overcome." Some protesters carried images of Palestinian children.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi of the Greens party called in a speechfor "the harshest sanctions on Israel," accused the IDF of "massacring" Gaza's population, and condemned New South Wales Premier Chris Minns for opposing the rally. Labor MP Ed Husic took part in the protest and urged his party to officially recognize a Palestinian state.

Therese Curtis, an 80-year-old protester, said she felt compelled to march because of what she described as a contrast in medical access. "I have the human right and privilege of receiving excellent medical care in Australia," she said. "But people in 'Palestine' are having their hospitals bombed and are being denied that basic right. That's why I'm marching."

Palestinian flags at the protest in Australia, with calls to follow Canada and the UK in recognizing a Palestinian state. Photo: AP

The Labor-led government in Canberra has not yet recognized a Palestinian state, but internal pressure on Albanese is intensifying. In a joint declaration issued last week with several other countries, Australia expressed a "willingness to positively consider recognizing a Palestinian state as a necessary step toward a two-state solution."

Albanese himself has said that blocking humanitarian aid and killing civilians is "indefensible and unacceptable," but stressed that any recognition would only happen if it contributed to advancing the two-state framework.

Unprecedented wave of antisemitism

Against the backdrop of rising anti-Israel protests, Australia has seen an unprecedented wave of antisemitic incidents since October 7.

Last month, the East Melbourne Synagogue was set on fire while around 20 worshippers and family members, including children, were inside for a Shabbat meal. That same night, around 20 masked men wearing keffiyehs attacked "Miznon," the Israeli-owned restaurant of chef Eyal Shani in central Melbourne, shouting "Death to the IDF," throwing chairs, and smashing windows.

Rioters at the "Miznon" restaurant in Australia. Photo: EPA.

It was the second synagogue arson attack in Melbourne in less than a year. In December 2024, the Adass Israel Synagogue was completely destroyed in what police described as a terrorist attack. In January, federal police intercepted a caravan loaded with explosives intended to be detonated near a synagogue in Sydney.

Among the prominent figures at Sunday's protest was Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who marched with his family and former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr.

Assange returned to Australia in June after reaching a plea deal with the US, under which he was convicted of espionage. He founded WikiLeaks in 2006 and published hundreds of thousands of classified US military and diplomatic documents, including records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The leaks are considered among the largest in US military history.

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Van of explosives found near Sydney synagogue

adin — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:00:20 +0000

Leaders of Australia's Jewish community are reporting an alarming development: Members of their community are increasingly removing visible symbols of their Jewish identity, including yarmulkes and mezuzahs, amid growing security concerns – a decision prompted by the federal police's discovery of a van loaded with explosives allegedly intended for detonation near a synagogue in the nation's largest metropolitan area., according to Reuters.

"As antisemitic attacks continue to rise, people are beginning to question the viability of Jewish life in Australia," said Alex Ryvchin, chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

The community's anxiety intensified this week following police intervention in what they described as a planned mass attack in Sydney. Security forces reportedly discovered a van containing explosives capable of creating a blast radius of 131 feet. Concurrent with this discovery, antisemitic graffiti was found defacing the walls of Mount Sinai College in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs – marking one of ten similar incidents that have occurred in the city over recent months.

A man works near where fire has damaged a preschool and early learning center located near a synagogue in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2025. Photo credit: Steve Markham/AAP Image via AP

"For the first time in my life, I feel let down by Australia," said Gina Farrer, whose child attends Mount Sinai College, which has resumed operations under heightened security measures including both police presence and private security personnel.

Security firms are reporting an unprecedented surge in requests from Jewish community members. "There's been a marked increase in security concerns, with people seeking protection for their events to minimize potential risks," said Steven Vogel, who founded Sayeret Security.

Law enforcement has strengthened its presence in predominantly Jewish areas, while Jewish educational institutions began their academic year under intensified security protocols. Israel's diplomatic mission in Australia has voiced serious concern regarding the deteriorating situation, calling on local authorities to implement substantial measures for protecting the country's Jewish population.

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Report: Australia sees 35% jump in antisemitic incidents in single year

Noga Martin — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 10:15:57 +0000

Antisemitic incidents rose 35% in the last year with more than 440 recorded cases, including physical assaults and graffiti, according to a report by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

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"The ECAJ 2021 Antisemitism Report," issued on Sunday, recorded 272 attacks – physical assaults, verbal harassment, vandalism and graffiti – and 175 threats in the year ending in September, up from 331 in the previous 12 months.

The rise in acts of Jew-hatred includes an uptick in abuse and harassment, which rose 14% from 128 to 147 incidents, and graffiti, which went from 42 instances to 106. The discovery of antisemitic posters and stickers increased a whopping 157%, from 28 to 72.

Eleven incidents of vandalism were recorded, and the number of physical assaults remained stationary at eight incidents, while threats via email, phone and mail declined.

The increase tracks with the findings of a smaller regional study conducted earlier in 2021.

In the survey of Jews in the state of Queensland, which includes Brisbane, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, six in 10 Jews reported experiencing anti-Semitism though the vast majority, 91.5%, said they had not reported the incident.

In a press release on the ECAJ report, Julie Nathan, the group's research director and report author, said: "Behind the statistics lie some horrific personal stories of persistent antisemitic bullying of Jewish students at schools, the brutal physical assault of a man on his way to synagogue," along with the flying of a Nazi flag above a synagogue in Brisbane and the spray-painting of a synagogue in Adelaide.

"What is perhaps worse is the disgraceful discourse online and occasionally in the mainstream media of those who, for whatever reason, seek to rationalize or minimize this egregious behavior," she said.

Like elsewhere in the world, antisemitism against Australia's Jewish community was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and Israel's Operation Guardian of the Walls operation against Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in May, during which more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli population centers.

"A total of 88 incidents was logged for the month of May alone, when the hostilities between Israel and Hamas occurred, compared to between 22 and 46 incidents for each of the other 11 months of the year," said Nathan.

She also reported the threat from extremist groups including Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the Anti-Defamation League says "seeks to establish a worldwide Islamic theocracy," and the neo-Nazi group, National Socialist Network.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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