The Prime Minister and the opposition leader had two very different receptions at vigils marking the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre on Monday.
While Anthony Albanese was booed by Illuminate October attendees in Melbourne, Peter Dutton was cheered by a crowd of 12,000 at a vigil in Sydney.
As Albanese walked through the crowd alongside Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann, some attendees greeted him warmly while many others were not so happy and shouted “shame on him.” the guardian reported.
Others expressed their displeasure by holding signs that stood out from the crowd.
“What a shame for Albo,” said one.
‘Just photo opportunity! No genuine support for the Jewish community.’
Around 6,000 attendees took part in the Illuminate October event in Moorabbin, southeast of Melbourne.
Albanese did not speak at the event, but joined attendees in a procession of hand-painted lanterns to commemorate the 1,200 people killed by terrorists a year ago and the 251 hostages who were taken, 97 of whom are still missing.
Meanwhile, in Sydney, Dutton received a grand reception when he addressed a crowd of 12,000 at a commemoration organized by the New South Wales Zionist Council and the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies in eastern Sydney.
Anthony Albanese (pictured center) was booed in Melbourne at the commemoration of the first anniversary of the October 7 massacre in Israel.
Some people held signs saying “Shame on you, Albo” (pictured) and accused him of not supporting Israel.
The Prime Minister received a warm welcome from some attending the Melbourne vigil.
He was loudly applauded when he denounced the anti-Semitism that the Jewish people have suffered since the “horrors and anguish” of October 7, 2023.
“That day of depravity, the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, awakened and exposed an anti-Semitic rot that afflicts Western democracies,” he said.
Dutton said the past year had been “the most impactful period of my life in our country.”
He said there had been a “moral fog” and a “leadership vacuum” in Australia, and spoke of anti-Semitic chants heard on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on October 9 last year.
‘In that vacuum, intolerable incidents have been tolerated and each intolerable incident has emboldened the next.
‘The last 12 months constitute one of the most difficult periods for Australian Jews in our nation’s history. “So, for the sake of moral clarity, let me be clear: Israel has every right to defend its territory,” Mr Dutton said.
In Melbourne, Zionism Victoria president Yossi Goldfarb was applauded and cheered when he accused the federal government of being “weak” when it came to defending Israel.
He said Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen were “enemies of Israel” and a “pernicious threat” that must be defeated.
Peter Dutton addressed a crowd of 12,000 at a commemoration organized by the New South Wales Zionist Council and the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies.
Peter Dutton was one of the popular keynote speakers at the Sydney vigil (pictured)
Goldfarb said antisemitism in Australia was “simply out of control… a threat to everything that makes our country unique and great”.
“There is a permissiveness that has caused a rise in anti-Semitism, a permissiveness encouraged by weak and ambiguous statements of our foreign policy,” he said.
“In our community’s view, they have weakened our social cohesion, making us feel that the State of Israel has been abandoned as a natural ally of the Australian people.”
Other dignitaries attending the Melbourne vigil included Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, Jewish MP Josh Burns, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and her deputy Ben Carroll.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the deadly conflict that followed the October 7 attacks on Israel.