Unfortunately, it appears that the pro-Hamas activism and madness are spreading around the world. In this case, we're talking about literally the other side of the planet. The United States embassy in Syndey, Australia was vandalized early this morning. Security cameras captured the culprit who used a sledgehammer to smash multiple holes through the reinforced security glass windows of the building. The unidentified male also painted inverted red triangles on the building, a symbol of the Palestinian "resistance." He cloaked his identity using a hoodie. Unfortunately, the best the Australian Prime Minister could offer was a public statement encouraging "both sides" to try to "turn the heat down" and engage in "respectful debate and discourse."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to “turn the heat down” after the U.S. Consulate in Sydney was vandalized on Monday.
CCTV footage showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3 a.m., a police statement said.
Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, were also painted on the front of the building.
Albanese urged people to have “respectful political debate and discourse.”
This wasn't the first incident of pro-Hamas attacks on United States properties down under. The same Consulate in Sydney was vandalized in April, with the perpetrators spraypainting a misspelled version of "Free Gaza" on the walls. Last month, the U.S. Consulate in Melbourne was similarly hit with a graffiti attack.
We probably shouldn't have expected a very aggressive response from Prime Minister Albanese. He claims to be solidly in support of Israel, but you can tell from his language that he's timid about taking a strong stand. He told supporters that "both sides" are traumatized by what's going on in Gaza. He said that particularly applies to Australians who have relatives living either in Israel or "the Palestinian Occupied Territories."
All of this was unfolding just as Winkin' Tony Blinken was flying back to Israel for another meeting with Bibi Netanyahu. We can only imagine how much additional damage might be done to our relationship there. Blinken will reportedly still be pushing for Israel to accept the White House's ceasefire deal, despite the fact that Hamas hasn't even agreed to it. The situation surrounding the offer has become even more tense since the heroic IDF raid that rescued four hostages who were being held captive by supposed Palestinian "civilians." Netanyahu has already firmly declared that Israel will finish the job and take out Hamas, but I suppose he really can't afford to refuse to meet with Blinken.
I suppose we shouldn't be all that surprised that this toxic behavior is showing up in Australia now. After all, we've seen far worse here in our own country. This weekend there was a pro-Hamas protest right outside the White House where the protesters were chanting "death to zionists," meaning the vast majority of American Jews. The White House was forced to send out a spokesperson to call the demonstration "repugnant." But as usual, they didn't seem to manage to make any arrests. At least things haven't gotten that bad in Australia yet.
