JTA — On Wednesday, the premier of New South Wales, the Australian state that includes Sydney, apologised to the Jewish community for a pro-Palestinian demonstration that featured “gas the Jews” and “f— the Jews” cries.
Chris Minns said in a statement that his local government sought to “create a place and a space” outside of Sydney’s iconic opera house, which was lighted up in the colours of the Israeli flag on Monday night, for Jews to grieve victims of the Israeli strikes.
He did, however, agree that the outside of the opera house was “overrun with people who were spewing racial epithets and hatred.” On Monday, a pro-Palestinian march drew over 1,000 people and involved the burning of an Israeli flag and the shooting of multiple flares.
“I want to apologise to [the Jewish community] specifically on behalf of the government and myself, as the premier of New South Wales,” Minns, a Labour Party leader who took office earlier this year, stated. “I really want to ensure that the Jewish community in New South Wales feel that they can have full access to this city, that they can enjoy its life, that they can be part of its culture, that they can commemorate together during solemn occasions.”
He went on to say that many Australians “had family and friends who were caught up in this conflict.” Galit Carbone, a dual Australian-Israeli citizen, has been reported deceased as a result of the violence, while other Australians have been verified detained by Hamas.
A similar event was conducted in Melbourne on Tuesday night, which gathered hundreds of people but without the incendiary chanting and behaviour seen in Sydney. Separately, police are looking into an incident in a Melbourne neighbourhood in which a group of males allegedly stated that they were “on the hunt to kill Jews.”
Many Australian Jews, numbering close to 100,000, are demanding information on how police handled Monday’s rally. Former Australian ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma criticised the NSW government in a message uploaded to his Instagram page.
“How did the New South Wales Government let this happen?” “How did they allow an important show of solidarity with hundreds of terrorism victims in Israel to be hijacked by extremists to applaud these very acts of terror?” he asked.
