Australian police say they are investigating a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Sydney Opera House on Monday night, after footage emerged showing a group of protesters chanting antisemitic slogans.
The ugly scene witnessed in Sydney was just one of numerous flashpoints at pro-Palestinian rallies around the world in the wake of Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, which has drawn condemnation from world leaders, and raised concerns about antisemitic hate towards Jewish communities.
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In Sydney, about 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters marched to the landmark Opera House, which had been lit in the colours of the Israeli flag in solidarity with the victims of Saturday’s attack. Footage from the event showed a group burning an Israeli flag, and chanting hateful slogans including “fuck the Jews.” In video shared by the Australian Jewish Association, some appeared to be chanting “gas the jews.”
Fahad Ali, a co-organiser of the rally, acknowledged that the antisemitic chants had occurred, and said he had tried to shut them down.
“I intervened to shut down antisemitic chants from a group of idiots who were in the minority,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. “Police told me to my face that they would not assist.”
He denounced the chants as “not only vulgar but completely selfish.”
“It has served as a distraction from the immense human suffering in Gaza and calls for genocide and collective punishment by Israeli officials.”
The scenes drew widespread condemnation from Australian political leaders, with many, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, questioning why the march had been permitted to take place. The Australian prime minister told Sky News Australia that the overt antisemitism on display was “horrific” and “ just appalling.”
“I did say that that demonstration shouldn’t have gone ahead, and I stand by that,” he said.
“We are a tolerant, multicultural nation. I understand that people have deep views about issues relating to the Middle East conflict but here in Australia we have to deal with political discourse in a respectful way and I certainly didn’t see that.”
New South Wales premier Chris Minns warned that anyone found by police to have engaged in racial vilification or incitement would be charged.
“To have some people celebrate atrocious indiscriminate killing and kidnapping in Israel is appalling,” he said.
“Racial epithets were thrown at the Jewish community by the mere fact that they were members of the Jewish community which is shocking and abusive and potentially a crime.”
He said it was “regrettable” that police had arrested a man for carrying an Israeli flag at the rally. New South Wales police assistant commissioner Tony Cooke defended the police’s actions in arresting the man on Tuesday, saying that his presence at the rally had posed a “significant risk” to his own safety.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-head Alex Ryvchin told Australian public broadcaster ABC that it was “a lamentable state of affairs when you have members of the Jewish community in the city unable to go to our CBD, unable to gather and rally to observe an act of solidarity such as this.”
The Sydney demonstration came a day after a pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in New York’s Times Square, before a group broke off and marched to the Israeli Consulate General’s Office. New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the rally, where one attendee was photographed flashing a swastika on their phone.
Tensions flared at the event as scuffles broke out with pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators, with an Israeli flag being snatched and set alight.
“At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism. I reject this. New York City rejects this,” Adams said.
“Do not use our streets to spread your hate.”
Tensions also flared in central London on Monday night as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli supporters took to the streets. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the boarded-up Israeli embassy, chanting “Israel is a terrorist state” and lighting flares, while about 2,000 people attended a vigil for Israel in Westminster.
Attendees from each event eventually came into contact, with footage on X showing police separating the groups at a London Underground station near the embassy.
The Metropolitan Police said late on Monday that three people had been arrested – one on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, one on suspicion of racially motivated criminal damage, and another on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon – and that further “active arrest enquiries” were underway.
The statement said that more officers had been deployed on the streets in light of the tensions, “with an enhanced visible presence particularly in London’s Jewish communities.”
“Londoners will continue to see officers on the streets, in our communities across London in the days to come following days to reassure and protect. We have zero tolerance for any hate crimes,” said the statement.
