On Monday the 16th of October 2023, Parliamentarians from the Australian House Of Representatives & Senate condemned the antisemitic chants made by some people at the pro-Arab protest at the Sydney Opera House’s Southern Forecourt.
A few Parliamentarians also criticised the New South Wales Government’s response to the pro-Arab protest & its aftermath while Lidia Thorpe, Independent Senator For Victoria criticised the fact the Sydney Opera House was only lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag and not the Palestinian flag as well.
During the Federal Opposition Leader (In The House Of Representatives), Peter Dutton’s comments, he quoted some of the anti-Jewish & anti-Israel comments. In response to this, a Government member shouted back “Stop saying it”. Due to a delay in the Government member shouting that, Peter Dutton thought it was in response to this next sentence, which said “condemn those comments”. He therefore shouted back to the Government member “Shame on you for condoning those words”, which drew loud shouted jeers of outrage from at least the whole Government side.
Later on, the Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, criticised Peter Dutton for that response.
You can find the full quotes for all Parliamentarians below:
The awful anti-Semitism chanted by some of the protesters at the Sydney Opera House is beyond offensive. It is a betrayal of our Australian values. We reject it & we condemn it. Our country is better than that & our country is a better place because of our Jewish community.
Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister Of Australia
We understand that, over a long period of time, these issues have been complex & that there are people in our country who hold passionate views about them but there was no excuse for the scenes & the chants that we heard outside the Sydney Opera House last Monday. That was nothing other than ugly anti-Semitism & it completely diminishes any attempt to advocate on the part of the innocent.
Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister Of Australia
Let me make this important point: events abroad must be no justification for rising tensions within our own communities. It’s particularly repugnant that some Australians have decided to take to the streets to celebrate Hamas’s attack on Israel & the slaughter of innocent Israeli children, women and men. We heard an odious barrage of comments on the attacks, describing them—in our country!—as a day of pride & a day of victory. Moreover, the rally which occurred on the evening of Monday 9 October at the Sydney Opera House was an abomination & a day of shame for our nation.
Australia’s Jewish community were unable to gather at our iconic landmark, which, to the credit of the New South Waes Government, had been illuminated in blue & white as a sign of support. They wanted to be there to mourn loved ones who have been lost & to express their solidarity. The anti-Israel protesters fired flares, burnt an Israeli flag & shouted words that we should never hear in our country or anywhere else in the civilised world, including ‘Gas the Jews’, ‘F the Jews’ & ‘F Israel.’ That was the depth of the sentiment & that is the reason we gather here today to condemn those comments. Such behaviour—
(“Stop saying it” – Government member)
— I won’t stop saying it. I’ll take the interjection. I won’t stop saying it because it should be condemned. The words should never have been said in the 1st place. Shame on you for condoning those words –
(Government side shouts with outrage)
– or suggesting that those words shouldn’t be condemned in this place. I won’t stop saying them & the Jewish community here in Australia deserves to hear you condemn them as well. That behaviour is a stain on the Australian character & a flagrant disregard of human decency. The Australians who watched the footage of those seething mobs & their sordid behaviour did not recognise their fellow countrymen.
Australia is not without its anti-Semitic elements. Both sides of politics have fought back against it as we have every other form of politically motivated violence but the rally at the Sydney Opera House escalated that anti-Semitism to another level. We have to recognise that because the impact it has had on the Jewish community here in Australia will take a lot to undo. We need to understand that level of anxiety in the Jewish community at present. Jewish parents are concerned about their children wearing their Jewish school uniform in public. In our country Jewish people are apprehensive about their safety when visiting a Jewish supermarket or practising their faith at a synagogue, not because of something they’ve done or said but because of who they are, because of their faith, because of their heritage, because of their belief. That’s the reason they are worried about their children being targeted in indiscriminate attacks, that they might be identified by their school uniform that they wear. That is the sentiment running deep within the Jewish community here in our country today.
Peter Dutton, Federal Opposition Leader In The House Of Representatives
There is unimaginable pain for so many people in our country—pain we seek to soothe as a united Parliament, pain we seek to soothe as a united people but pain that for many was compounded as a result of the disgraceful scenes we saw at Sydney’s Opera House last week. We should never be in a situation in our great country where we rightly make a significant symbolic gesture to support a group of people facing trauma, only to then have such a failure in administration that this gesture backfires & further upsets them. I pay tribute to the New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, for apologising to the Jewish community. He gave a fine speech at the vigil in Dover Heights but it is a timely reminder of just how deeply antisemitism does run across the world & even in sections of our country.
Sussan Ley, Federal Deputy Opposition Leader In The House Of Representatives
The story of the Jewish people is one of extraordinary courage & resilience but this week my community has faced a reality beyond our worst nightmares. We witnessed devastation in Israel only to be confronted with scenes at home in support of the perpetrators. Less than 24 hours after the attack, as the body count was rising, people gathered at our country’s most iconic landmark, the Sydney Opera House, & chanted antisemitic slurs echoing the worst of the Holocaust. We have seen flags burnt, Nazi salutes on Melbourne trains & a stream of online abuse with justifications of the murder of innocent Jewish lives. My community is heartbroken. My people are suffering. Trying to reconcile the atrocities overseas & the scenes at home, it makes the resolute support that I & the Jewish community have received from colleagues in this Parliament so meaningful.
Josh Burns, Chair Of Parliamentary Joint Committee On Human Rights
The gross antisemitic scenes on the steps of the Sydney Opera House stain our nation in shame. These abhorrent actions have instilled fear in Australia’s strong & proud Jewish community deepen that shame.
Last week I was in Brussels and Berlin & to be asked unprompted by members of other parliaments in nations far away about those scenes on the steps of the Sydney Opera House was not only embarrassing but disturbing. Is this Australia in 2023? I would hope not. While we defend the right to protest, there should be no effort spared to prosecute any who crossed the line through words or deeds to incite violence or further terrorism. Such sentiments have no place in Australia. The racist bigots who attracted this international attention do not reflect what I know the overwhelming majority of fair-minded, decent Australians stand for.
If the events in Israel & the reverberations we saw on the steps of the Opera House make us shudder, as they should, then when David Adler, the President of the Australian Jewish Association, says he has had reports of mobs driving around Sydney saying they are ‘looking for Jews’, then we need to act. We need to act when this is not an isolated event but the manifestation of what seems to be a dangerous creeping wave of antisemitism.
These actions require unequivocal condemnation. They require action across our security agencies at Federal & State levels to ensure our Jewish community feel & are safe in their homes, their schools, their workplaces & their daily lives.
Simon Birmingham, Federal Opposition Leader In The Senate
I think I speak on behalf of everyone in saying that the vile antisemitic comments that we have heard from some in the community & also the attacks of Hamas on innocent civilians which constitute war crimes are to be condemned. It is also contemptible to hear an attempt in this chamber early today from the Leader of the Opposition to try & weaponise it by suggesting that somehow someone in the government condoned any of those remarks. That is beneath contempt. It is beneath contempt on what should be a motion that is about expressing support for people who are on the receiving end of hate & there is no place for antisemitism and no place for Islamophobia in this country. We can have a debate in this place about the looming invasion & the need to fight for peace without the Leader of the Opposition falsely accusing people I might have a difference of opinion with, but I can bet my bottom dollar none of them back the vile antisemitic comments that we have heard. It is beneath contempt for the Leader of the Opposition to try & use this motion to prosecute that agenda.
Adam Bandt, Australian Greens Leader
There is no equivalence here between the State of Israel & the terrorist organisation Hamas. I regret to say that too many people have not been able to see the true moral position here. On 1 side, you have one of our allies, a democratic state & on the other side, you have a terrorist organisation which believes Israel should not exist. In fact, one of its stated aims is to destroy Israel. That’s why the scenes at the Sydney Opera House last Monday night were so disappointing. We saw a group of demonstrators celebrating the death of civilians. In doing so & uttering statements like ‘Gas the Jews’, they were breaking the New South Wales criminal code, which prevents the incitement of violence against the citizens of our state. I regret to say that we have not seen the action that should be applied here to protect our citizens.
Andrew Bragg, Liberal Senator For New South Wales
It should be noted we have seen no evidence of demonstrators celebrating the death of civilians.
In the midst of an ongoing conflict plagued by false binaries and misinformation, I want to take the short time that I do have to reflect on why it is that our actions here in Australia, and the condemnation of gross antisemitism that we witnessed on the steps of one of our greatest landmarks, matters. Generations of Jewish people have been subjected to the hateful prejudice of antisemitism. The grossest expression of antisemitism, the Holocaust, was a horror beyond comprehension.
The fundamental dignity of the human person, irrespective of their faith, nationality, ethnicity and the context into which they are born transcends politics and all borders. It must remain central to our hearts and to our politics. It can never be forgotten. When the innate dignity of any human life is minimised, we risk descent into the darkest depths of what humans are capable of. We risk the same evil that enabled the murder of six million Jews.
Deborah O’Neill, Labor Senator For New South Wales
There was a wholly inadequate response from the New South Wales Government to the protest march at the Opera House. It beggars belief that those racist, bigoted zealots were allowed to get on with their day after that appalling behaviour. The one person that got arrested was a man who peacefully was carrying an Israeli flag whilst other protesters at the Opera House cried, ‘Gas the Jews.’ This is Australia in 2023. It’s appalling & we need to stand up against it. There were no NSC meetings called. All efforts were to downplay the significance of the event.
Bridget McKenzie, National Senator For Victoria
It should be noted that the arrest of the man carrying an Israeli flag was a couple of hours before some protesters at the Opera House cried “Gas the Jews”.
Let’s make no mistake about it: Hamas is synonymous with evil, the same evil that we saw perpetuated by the Nazis in the 2nd World War. Therefore, in my mind, there can be no doubt that Hamas is synonymous with the Nazis.
This was proven at that horrible march in Sydney following the attacks, on an occasion which was meant to be remembering the lives lost in Israel, where there were people chanting, ‘Gas the Jews.’ My family are Jewish. Can you imagine the effect, 70-odd years since the Holocaust, of again hearing people saying, ‘Gas the Jews’? We cannot stand for this. I am so heartbroken by the atrocities that we saw & they felt so close to home for me, my family, my friends in Israel and the Jewish community—in Melbourne in particular but right across Victoria.
David Van, Independent Senator For Victoria
I rise to speak to this motion as I think we’re all hurting. We’re hurting because, instead of moving towards peace—which is what every human being in this world desires—the world is being plunged into another war, costing thousands of lives already. We all know that that’s by far not the end of it. I also rise because the debate on the international stage so far & in this very country has been extremely 1-sided. Just a week ago, the Sydney Opera House & this very building were lit up in blue & white, a symbol of the undifferentiated position this Government takes on this conflict. The world & the Australian Government is portraying this as an assault on the Israeli people only as a further attempt to eradicate the Jewish people.
My thoughts are with the many lives lost & those families who have lost loved ones but this war goes beyond that & is also an attack on the Palestinian people. While the world mourns what has happened to Israelis, governments—including this one—seem to condone the tragedy unfolding for Palestinians. Israel’s indiscriminate bombings on Gaza are killing thousands of innocent people—people who already had to suffer for so many decades in what is often called the world’s biggest prison. These people didn’t attack Israel & yet they are the human collateral of Israel fighting back against Hamas with unprecedented force.
Lidia Thorpe, Independent Senator For Victoria
Since last weekend, nearly 200 people have emailed me & my team, feeling unsafe & shaken, especially after the disturbing antisemitic incident that occurred at the Sydney Opera House. 1 woman told me about how she was in one of the buildings in the CBD as people were marching down to the Opera House & saying slogans, some of which have been repeated today in the Parliament. She was scared & so many of my Jewish community in Wentworth are scared.
Condoning violence & celebrating attacks on innocent civilians is unacceptable. It is not part of this country. In the words of a very good friend of mine, ‘Australia is scary, which is awful, as it’s possibly one of the best places in the world to be Jewish.’ All of us in this place must speak with one voice in saying that this is unacceptable & we must ensure that those who are at risk of harm here are reminded through our words and deeds that they are safe, they are welcome & they are part of our community.
Allegra Spender, Member For Wentworth
What happened in our greatest city, Sydney, was nothing short of appalling. I never could have imagined a day when Jewish people in Sydney would be told by the Police that the streets were not safe nor indeed that the same police would arrest a man carrying an Israeli flag while giving an escort to the steps of the Opera House to antisemites celebrating the work of a listed terrorist organisation—which we in Australia have listed—murdering Jewish innocents.
Nor could I have imagined that antisemites would light flares & chant, ‘Gas the Jews!’ on the steps of Australia’s greatest cultural symbol while the police watched on—’Gas the Jews! Kill the Jews!’ at the Sydney Opera House in 2023! These people should be prosecuted for inciting the murder of their fellow Australians &, if possible, removed from our community.
Julian Leeser, Member For Berowra
We would like to note, at the Sydney Opera House protest. we have seen no evidence of antisemites celebrating Hamas’ murders of Jewish people nor the chant “Kill the Jews” being chanted. We also have no evidence that the flare lighters at the Sydney Opera House protest were antisemites.
The actions of protesters in Sydney last Monday evening were disgusting.
Recently, I was pleased to visit the Hornsby Dawah Community Service—the Hornsby Masjid—a centre for people of Islamic faith in my electorate & surrounding areas. I know that the good people who worship at the synagogues in my electorate are concerned about the safety of innocent Palestinian people in Gaza. I know that, equally, the people who worship at the Hornsby Masjid want to see peace, safety and security for all & I know that, despite the actions of a small number of people last Monday night, the overwhelming majority of Australians want to see Israeli people safe & people in Gaza safe.
Paul Fletcher, Member For Bradfield
I’m Jewish. I can trace my ancestry in this country on both sides back many generations.
As I’ve said, my family have lived in this country for many generations & what happened on the footsteps of the Opera House in Sydney recently, where people were chanting ‘Death to the Jews’ and ‘Gas the Jews’ is something that I never thought I would ever see in this country. It’s something that I am, as a Sydneysider, deeply ashamed of & I hope the people that were responsible for that are brought to justice.
Doctor Mike Freelander, Member For Macarthur
We would like to note we have no evidence that people were chanting ‘Death to the Jews’ at the pro-Arab protest at the Sydney Opera House.
The handling of the protest last week at the Opera House was a disgrace. The individuals who protested in an undignified way caused distress to Sydney’s Jewish community, who wanted to safely attend the Opera House to see the Israeli flag & to pray for their families who are in Israel.
Melissa McIntosh, Member For Lindsay
Some of the chants that I heard on the steps of the Sydney Opera House were an absolute disgrace & those people making them are un-Australian. We have to call that out continually because that is not the Australia that we want. We have to hold onto our humanity & there are examples of that in the Goulburn Valley, in my electorate of Nicholls.
We have arguments in this place, but we’ve got a great democracy & we’ve got a great social fabric but that has to be fought for. As part of the fight for it, you’ve got to call out evil when you see it & you’ve got to call out hatred and intolerance when you see it. We saw it in Sydney, regretfully & I called that out as well as condemning the evil attacks of Hamas on the south of Israel.
Sam Birrell, Member For Nicholls
Sydney Spectaculars 