Left-wing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was greeted with boos and abuse at Bondi Beach on Sunday when he attended a memorial vigil to remember those murdered in the terrorist attack that struck a Hanukkah celebration one week ago.
Shouts of “shame!” rang out as the Labor leader made his way through the crowd with his security team and staff.
Grim-faced Albanese and his wife were further jeered with one man yelling out “blood on your hands” joined by a second who cried, “you are not welcome.”
Other hecklers could be heard yelling out, “you don’t represent Australia” as he refused a call to apologise to members of the Australian Jewish community for his inaction.
Albanese was again booed when the speaker mentioned his name during the memorial.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader is under pressure from a growing number of critics who say his disengaged left-wing government has not done enough to curb a surge in antisemitism since Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023.
Just days ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chastised Albanese for ignoring his warnings about rising antisemitism ahead of the Bondi Beach massacre, as Breitbart News reported.
Netanyahu lashed out during an extraordinary television interview Friday with leading Australian network SKY News. He maintained the terrorist attack was preventable and accused Canberra of detached inaction despite explicit warnings months earlier.
Two years ago extraordinary footage was released of Albanese at a pro-Palestine rally earlier in his Parliamentary career.
The Sky News Network found the grainy video and Albanese can be seen protesting Israel’s efforts to free itself from the hegemony of anti-Israel Palestinians who are sworn to the Jewish state’s destruction.
Albanese was seen next to a sign reading “Stop the Israeli Slaughter: Free Palestine Now.”
Albanese also used the the moment to condemn the Israeli military during his public display of support.
Despite Albanese’s seeming indifference to Jewish people and their faith, not all is lost.
David Ossip, the president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a speech to start the proceedings Sunday the Jewish community is grasping hope even as it despairs at the weakness of Albanese to address rampant antisemitism in Australia.
“We have lost our innocence….last week took our innocence,” Ossip said.
“Like the grass here at Bondi was stained with blood, so, too, has our nation been stained. We have landed up in a dark place. But friends, Hanukkah teaches us that light can illuminate even the bleakest of places. A single act of courage, a single flame of hope, can give us direction and point the path forward.”
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