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Sa’ar, Jewish groups slam massive anti-Israel protests in Australia

The marchers charged Israel with starving Gazans and committing genocide and demanded an immediate cease-fire.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Jewish groups on Saturday slammed a massive anti-Israel demonstration in Australia against the ongoing war in Gaza, where an estimated 90,000 marchers accused Israel of starving Gazans and demanded a cease-fire.

Sa’ar posted a picture to X showing a protester holding a huge picture of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and commented, “The distorted alliance between the radical Left and fundamentalist Islam is sadly dragging the West toward the sidelines of history.”

“In the picture: Radical protesters at Sydney Harbour Bridge today holding an image of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’ – the most dangerous leader of fundamentalist Islam, the world’s largest exporter of terror and a mass executioner. Australians, wake up!” he wrote.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-Chair Alex Ryvchin criticized the fact that the demonstrators’ supposed concern for human rights did not extend to the 50 of 251 hostages whom Hamas and other terror organizations are still holding since they kidnapped them during their invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, while massacring 1,200 people, sparking the ongoing war.

“Any genuine concern for humanity would have also included the forgotten people held against their will in Gaza, the tortured and broken innocents held underground for nearly two years,” Ryvchin said in a statement, after seeing the lead banner, which stated, “March for Humanity, Save Gaza.”

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He noted that the protest organizers, Palestine Action Group, “are the same group that held a pro-Palestinian rally as the Oct. 7 massacre was still unfolding.”

The Australians marched across and stood on Sydney’s famed Harbour Bridge for hours, closing down the major traffic artery.

Some banged pots and pans together to symbolize the lack of food in Gaza, and others carried pictures depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Hitler and labeling him a “war criminal.”

Some wore T-shirts calling for “Death to the IDF” along with Hamas’ upside-down, red targeting triangle.

Many waved Palestinian flags, and held signs saying, “From the river to the sea,” which most Jews believe is code for Israel’s destruction, while demanding sanctions on the Jewish state and chanting “Stop the genocide.”

About 1,000 police officers were on hand for crowd control, and the march was peaceful — a fact noted by many of the country’s politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Albanese, who is not considered particularly friendly to Israel, said that Israel not allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and its killing of civilians “cannot be defended or ignored.”

He did not mention that Jerusalem has allowed aid in since May through a group that does not allow Hamas to steal it and that asked all international organizations to work with it, but they refused to do so, preferring instead to leave trucks full of aid at the border crossing.

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He also did not point out that Israel tries its best to avoid hurting civilians, such as by warning them away from battle zones, while Hamas deliberately uses them as human shields.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations also took place in Melbourne and Adelaide.