Labor MP’s office vandalised with Hamas-linked symbol

Labor MP Peter Khalil’s office has been spray-painted with a Hamas-linked inverted red triangle and the slogan “glory to the martyrs” in the latest act of vandalism to target politicians’ offices over the war in the Middle East.

The words “land back” were also painted outside Khalil’s inner Melbourne office, which was splashed with red paint, and vandals used extinguishers and propellants to pour an unknown foul-smelling liquid through a hole they had drilled in a door in the early hours of Monday morning.

Vandals defaced Labor MP Peter Khalil’s inner Melbourne office on Monday morning.

The office was a crime scene on Monday as police and a hazardous materials team investigated.

Khalil, who was recently appointed the government’s special envoy for social cohesion, said he was dismayed.

“I have always fully supported the right to peaceful protest. This is not protest. This is vandalism. This is defacing property. Worse, this is using violent symbolic material or actions that are harmful to others ... in their place of work. It is completely unacceptable and it needs to be called out,” he said.

“Everyone has a right to express their ideological and political views. But you cannot say it is acceptable to express them through intimidation, physical harassment or actions that put people in harm’s way.”

He said the inverted red triangle symbol – which has become associated with pro-Palestinian activism but is also used to mark kill targets in Hamas’ social media content – had a connotation that was “disturbing and concerning”, while the stench was “unbearable and clearly a biohazard of some sort”.

Khalil, whose inner-north Melbourne seat of Wills has been a focus of pro-Palestinian activism and is a target of the Greens at the upcoming election, said he was concerned the people who had targeted his staff and office were unable to articulate their positions in a rational and respectful way.

“The vast majority are able to engage peacefully without a problem. Clearly, a small minority won’t, and they need to be condemned.”

A spokeswoman from Khalil’s office said staff had arrived at work about 8.45am on Monday to find the office had been vandalised.

“Alongside the vandalism shown in photos, a hole had been drilled into the back door and a red [or] pink substance pumped into the office,” she said.

“Staff reported an overwhelming stench on opening the door, like an abattoir.”

She said the office was closed to the public as police investigated, and staff would not be on site.

Coalition senator James Paterson said the targeting of Khalil’s office was unacceptable.

“The perpetrators of this intimidating and dangerous behaviour must feel the full force of the law,” he said.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the Greens condemned the vandalism.

“Protests must always be peaceful and non-violent. Everyone should feel safe at work, and we wish Peter Khalil and his team well after this vandalism overnight,” he said.

Germany banned the inverted red triangle in July because of its use by Hamas and its supporters to mark enemy targets in videos and graffiti.

Since the terrorist group’s attacks on Israel on October 7 last year, the triangle has morphed into an online symbol shared by Hamas sympathisers as well as pro-Palestinian activists, including some unaware of its origins. It has been displayed in pro-Palestine protests in Melbourne, including in Khalil’s seat.

Monday’s vandalism is the latest in a series of attacks on MPs’ offices this year. In July, two teenagers aged 17 and 18 were charged with burglary and criminal damage after Labor MP Josh Burns’ Melbourne office was targeted.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time it was a troubling escalation of radical pro-Palestinian activism in Australia.

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