Stewart Perrie
Australia's leaders have slammed the behavior of some protestors at a pro-Palestinian rally held in Sydney.
On the night when the Opera House was set to be lit up in Israel's colors, around 1,000 people sympathetic to Palestine marched from Town Hall to the harbor.
They held signs and flags and eventually gathered close to the steps of the iconic Sydney landmark, where they were met by a wall of police.
According to Fox News and The Telegraph, it was here that they threw flares at the Opera House and started horrifying chants that included 'gas the Jews' and 'f**k Israel'.
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Before the rally took place, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged protestors to wait.
"I just would counsel...what is to be served apart from creating a climate that is not conducive to peace and to the objective of wanting to see Palestinians and Israelis living a peaceful and secure life?” he said to 2GB Radio.
However, after the rally, he was shocked and 'appalled' at what he saw.
"To have the slogans that were chanted last night that I won't even repeat the ones that I saw, is explicitly an anti-Semitic chant," he said.
He added: "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."
NSW Premier Chris Minns was equally horrified.
“To have some people celebrate atrocious indiscriminate killing and kidnapping in Israel is appalling,” he said.
“This is the opposite of the dynamic multicultural community we want in NSW and Australia. 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.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC Radio National: “I think we should all be concerned.
“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism or prejudice or hatred of any kind and we should all stand firm against the sort of antisemitic language that unfortunately some engaged [in] – just as we should stand firm against all prejudice."
NSW Police have now started an investigation into the demonstration.
The organizer of the rally has also been disappointed by the anti-Semitic chants.
Fahad Ali said on Twitter/X: "I intervened to shut down antisemitic chants from a group of idiots who were in the minority. Police told me to my face that they would not assist.
"This behaviour was 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, which this morning foreign minister Penny Wong failed to condemn."
Hamas launched a large-scale assault on Israel on the weekend that killed hundreds of civilians and injured many more.
Scores of people have also now been killed in Gaza after Israel initiated retaliatory airstrikes on the besieged territory.