A mayor based in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs has expressed dismay at the recent theft of an Israeli flag flown above his council chambers.
Speaking to 2GB Radio on Oct. 31, Woollahra Mayor Richard Shields says he had simply offered support to the Israelis.
“I do shake my head. This flag was raised to send our solidarity to the 1,400 Israelis that were murdered, butchered, and kidnapped a couple of weeks ago”, Mr. Shields said.
“It was quite a symbolic act. I didn’t think it’d attract any controversy but I’ve been surprised with the pushback that I’ve received personally and that others have received as well.”
Mr. Shields also said he received emails attempting to justify Hamas’ recent incursion into Israel.
“What’s distressing is that they’re coming out with arguments to suggest that the murder, rape, and kidnapping is justified. Nowhere in the world is there justification for the mass murder of innocent people; people that are at music festivals; people that are gunned down in their homes,” he said.
Local police are investigating the incident that has been captured on CCTV. Although the council understands it was stolen by a male perpetrator acting alone, it is unable to provide too many details given that the investigation is in its early stages.
Issues With Anti-Semitism
The latest ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas regime in Gaza has given rise to a number of anti-semitic and Islamophobic occurrences across Australia.On the night of Oct. 9, three days after Hamas’ attack, pro-Palestine demonstrators were filmed shouting anti-semitic chants including “gas the Jews” outside the Sydney Opera House. Protestors were also seen burning and stomping on Israeli flags.
The group was organised by the advocacy group Palestine Action Sydney in response to the NSW government’s decision to light up the icon in blue and white colours as a show of Australia’s solidarity with Israel.
Days later on Oct. 13, three men were charged after performing Nazi salutes outside the Sydney Jewish Museum situated in the inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst.
The men were arrested and later charged with deliberate offensive behaviour and knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol.
On Nov. 1, a lawyer representing one of the three men charged came out in defence of his client, claiming the incident was a gross misunderstanding.
Upol Amin, representing Ryan Marshall, maintains his client’s actions were not connected to the Israel-Palestine conflict and there was no evidence of Nazi sympathising among the men.
“It’s just a misunderstanding and we hope that the misunderstanding will be cleared up by the courts in due course,” Mr. Amin said.
“We’re in very sensitive times at the moment and one thing that needs to be made clear is that this matter has nothing to do with what’s happening with Israel and Palestine.”
On Oct. 31, the three men all pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against them in Downing Centre Local Court. The men will return to court to resume their cases in January.
Palestinian Sympathies Obscure Widespread Israeli Support
The Islamophobia Register of Australia has said there has been a ten-fold increase in hate-fuelled incidents since the conflict broke out on Oct. 7.On Oct. 28, the organisation said that they had received 51 reports in the previous two weeks but that more detail was needed due to underreporting. Muslim women even reported feeling at risk because of their distinct scarves and headdresses.
Further, several Adelaide mosques were firebombed in late October. Most notably, South Australian police reported a gas bottle set on fire outside Al-Khalil mosque in Woodville North on Oct. 23.
Officers also responded to what they believed to be two deliberately lit grass fires outside another mosque in the south-western Adelaide suburb of Park Holme on Oct. 19.
Recent displays of Islamophobia have been partly a testament to support for Palestine becoming more overt publicly—a situation connected to the shifting nature of the conflict itself.
