‘Sheer horror’: Pro-terrorism graffiti removed after uproar

The Australian Federal Police are investigating pro-terrorist graffiti in Melbourne’s north, which sparked widespread criticism from Australia’s political leaders on the anniversary of October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

A pro-Palestinian protest also proceeded as planned, with organisers saying calls from the prime minister and premier to not demonstrate on the day ignored Palestinians’ plight.

Police are investigating two acts of vandalism in the form of graffiti praising terrorist group Hamas in Fitzroy on Tuesday morning. The local council says the graffiti has been removed.

The phrase “Glory to Hamas” was scrawled on a billboard at the busy intersection of Alexandra Parade and Brunswick Street. About 500 metres away, the Fitzroy Officeworks on Alexandra Parade was also targeted, with graffiti reading “Oct 7, do it again” and “Glory to the martyrs” defacing the building. Officeworks said the graffiti had been painted over.

Further north, in Preston, a banner featuring the phrase “Glory to the martyrs” was spotted hanging over a pedestrian overpass on Bell Street alongside the Palestinian flag.

The incidents occurred on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, attacks in which Hamas murdered 1200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages. In response, Israel launched a two-year campaign that has killed an estimated 67,000 Palestinians so far. A UN commission of inquiry has labelled Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the graffiti plastered across the Fitzroy billboard.

“The terrorist propaganda defacing a Melbourne billboard on the anniversary of the October 7 murders is abhorrent,” he said.

“The people responsible must face the full force of the law. The AFP [Australian Federal Police] will work with Victorian police to bring them to justice.”

A pro-Palestine demonstration went ahead as planned in Melbourne on Tuesday evening, hours after the graffiti incidents. The Free Palestine Coalition Group had urged people to gather near the National Gallery of Victoria, which was previously targeted by anti-Israel protesters because of its association with the prominent Jewish Gandel family.

At 5pm, about 150 people gathered in the Queen Victoria Gardens, opposite the NGV, where 16 police officers were stationed. Although the gathering’s organisers asked attendees not to display signage, posters or flags, several Palestinian flags and a sign saying “We shall rebuild” were on display.

After the speeches, several protesters held white bags meant to symbolise dead bodies. The atmosphere remained peaceful as the group began their walk to state parliament, with numbers growing to about 250 people.

Albanese said on Monday that the anniversary of the Hamas attacks was “not a day for demonstrations” and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said they were “deeply disrespectful”.

Speaking at the pro-Palestinian gathering, rally organiser Nour Salman described the prime minister’s criticism of the demonstrations as “absolutely atrocious”.

Salman rejected Albanese’s characterisation of the gatherings, and said that missing from political statements about the rallies was any acknowledgment of the Palestinian lives lost since the war began. “This is exactly why this vigil is taking place,” Salman said.

On Tuesday morning, a commemoration was held at the Goldstone Gallery in Collingwood, marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks.

The event, which began at 6.29am – the same time sirens were heard at the Nova music festival in southern Israel – was organised by Jewish artists Nina Sanadze and Danny Ben-Moshe, and included an all-day vigil featuring speeches, victim name-readings, poetry and music.

Sanadze described her reaction to seeing the words defacing the Fitzroy billboard as “just sheer horror”.

“I nearly screamed just seeing it on a day like this,” she said.

“It was up there for a good five hours before it was taken down. I was thinking, how can I get up there and paint over it?

“It’s beyond horrific, upsetting and, unfortunately, while I’m surprised every time, it’s not so surprising any more.”

Sanadze said her exhibition aimed to forensically detail the events of October 7 through witness testimony.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, also the defence minister, labelled the graffiti attack disgraceful and deeply offensive.

“This day can only be one thing, and that is a day of commemoration and remembrance,” Marles told ABC Melbourne. “It’s a deeply solemn day, and to have that message scrawled in that way is obviously disgraceful, and we need to be a society which is cohesive, which looks out for each other, and that is obviously a message of division.”

When asked if the graffiti would be treated as an act of terrorism, Marles said he was unsure but added that he had no doubt it would be looked into.

“Hamas is a terrorist organisation,” he said. “Hamas was responsible for the terror attack which occurred two years ago on this day, in which 1200 innocent people lost their lives … a message of that kind scrawled on this day is deeply disgraceful.”

“I certainly think that there are people in our society today who do feel threatened, and I think that … is very much a matter of concern to the government. We are doing everything in our power to stand by the Jewish community as they face acts of antisemitism.

“We need to be a country which looks out for each other, and part of being a multicultural society, with all the diversity and richness that comes with that, must also be an accompanying care that we have for each other, and this [billboard] is a message of division.

“This is not a message which is designed to provide for the care of others within our community. And that is in part why this is absolutely a disgraceful message to have at any moment, but particularly on this day.”

Vandals accused of turning Australians against each other

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the graffiti attacks were revealing of a “vicious streak” running through Australia.

“It’s as despicable as it is predictable,” he said.

“I believe we’re overwhelmingly a decent people and a decent country, but there are those among us who revel in bloodshed and who support terrorism, and it’s something which I think should shock all Australians.”

“It should make us resolute and united in fighting because it’s just utterly contemptible that there’s an element in our society that thinks this way and also acts on it.”

Ryvchin said those responsible for the vandalism were intent on dividing society, adding that this sort of behaviour had become normalised.

“I tend to think that the people who do this know exactly what they’re doing,” he said. “They want to provoke reaction. They want to turn one group of Australians against another ... this sort of behaviour has become routine, and it’s become normalised, and to a large extent, there’s a great impunity that goes with it. There’s very little legal consequences, there’s very little social consequences, and it won’t simply evaporate tomorrow.”

Allan said the words scrawled on the Fitzroy billboard were hateful and not a representation of the state’s “great multicultural society”.

“It has no place, and it’s even more hateful on a day where we stand in support of a Jewish community that is grieving the second anniversary of the single biggest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust,” Allan said. “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said: “Graffiti glorifying a terrorist organisation has no place in our community. On this day especially, it’s disgraceful. I stand with Victoria’s Jewish community and remember those who lost their lives in the October 7 attacks.”

Caulfield MP David Southwick said the words plastered on the billboard were triggering for members of Australia’s Jewish community.

“To have people glorifying a terrorist organisation in Melbourne, it’s just beyond belief,” Southwick told ABC Melbourne.

“We’ve got laws – they need to be used. Nobody should be doing this … it’s shameful in terms of how the Jewish community has been targeted over the last two years. And something needs to be done. Words are not good enough from our leaders. They’ve actually got to get out and do something.”

Fitzroy locals disappointed by ‘horrible’ graffiti

People passing the vandalism in Fitzroy said the graffiti was disappointing, and added that vandals had previously targeted the billboard. One person, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It’s just so horrible to see.”

Police are investigating both Fitzroy incidents, and said in a statement: “There is absolutely no place at all in our society for antisemitic or hate-based symbols and behaviour.”

Yarra City Council workers visited the scene on Tuesday morning and photographed the graffiti.

In a statement on Tuesday, federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the graffiti was deeply disturbing, and called on the AFP and ASIO to help police track down the vandals.

“Hamas is a listed terrorist organisation in Australia. Supporting them is not free speech, it is a crime,” Ley said. “Those responsible must face the full force of the law. Victorians deserve to feel safe in their own community.”

On Monday, Albanese called for “decent human behaviour” to mark Tuesday’s anniversary of the attacks.

“[Tuesday] is not a day for demonstrations,” he said, as the premiers of Victoria and NSW condemned the protests organised in both states to mark the second anniversary of the atrocities.

Allan said Tuesday’s planned protest in Melbourne was unacceptable.

“Today should not be a day about protest,” she told ABC Melbourne. “Today is a day to stand with those in our community who are mourning the loss of life and what occurred to you in that horrific terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.”

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