KEY POINTS:
- Both major parties are calling for calm over the Hamas-Israel conflict.
- Police are investigating after a pro-Palestinian advocate in Sydney was threatened with an explosive device.
- The makeshift device was placed on the car of a man who had a Palestinian flag flying on his property.
Both major parties have called for respectful debate over the Hamas-Israel conflict, after an explosive device was placed on the car of a Sydney man who flew a Palestinian flag at his property.
A police bomb disposal unit was called to the car at Botany in Sydney’s east on Friday, to remove what they described as an “inert improvised explosive device” from the vehicle’s bonnet.
The federal government has repeatedly stressed the
, amid fears charged rhetoric over the conflict could spill into violence at home.
The makeshift explosive device — built from a jerry can, fuel, a rag, and a lighter — was planted outside the man’s home, and came with a note warning him about flying the flag.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says all Australians have a role to play in maintaining social cohesion. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
“ENOUGH! TAKE DOWN FLAG! ONE CHANCE!!!!” it said.
Botany has been the scene of a number of pro-Palestinian protests in recent months, including a group which converged on the suburb’s port to block the arrival of an Israeli ship in November.
The man told the Nine newspapers, which first revealed the story, that he believed the incident was an act of terrorism. Police are investigating.
Speaking on X — formerly Twitter — on Monday, acting home affairs minister Andrew Giles said all Australians had a “role to play in maintaining social cohesion, and in ensuring that conflict overseas doesn’t come here”.
“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, Islamophobia or any form of hate speech,” he wrote.
“We must recognise that in our multicultural society, social cohesion is a vital national asset which can’t be neglected, much less undermined.”
Simon Birmingham has condemned the incident. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Taking to the same platform, Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham stressed Australian democracy required freedom of speech.
“Whether driven by disagreement, intolerance or Islamophobia this act has no place in our nation,” he wrote.
“Whatever anyone’s views about flying the Palestinian flag at this time, this is illegal and reprehensible behaviour to be condemned.”
were marred by some antisemitic chanting in October, while the Islamophobia Register Australia reported Islamophobic incidents rose 13-fold in the immediate aftermath of the 7 October attacks.
A burger restaurant owned by a Palestinian-Australian in Melbourne’s Caulfield was set alight in November, though police stated they did not believe the incident was politically motivated.
The suspicious blaze prompted demonstrations later that week, with police using pepper spray to subdue some protesters.