Sydney train driver delivers pro-Palestine message over loud speaker

A Sydney train driver has been slammed for an “offensive” act after they shared a pro-Palestinian message over train loudspeakers.

A Sydney train driver has been filmed broadcasting a pro-Palestinian message over the onboard speakers, in what has been slammed as an “offensive” and “unprofessional” act.

In a video, which was re-shared by the Australian Jewish Association on social media, a female driver can be heard thanking passengers for riding with the network before making a reference to Palestine.

“Thank you for riding Sydney trains and remember ‘from the river to the sea’,” she said over the loud speakers.

The phrase is a shortened version of the debated slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which references the land between the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

In a statement, the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) condemned the public act, saying “public transport should be for all passengers and not co-opted for political stunts”.

“This particular chant is widely recognised as a genocidal call for the elimination of the State of Israel.”

The driver was heard saying ‘from the river to the sea’ over the train speakers. Picture: Twitter@AustralianJA

AJA described the phrase as a “genocidal call”. Picture: Twitter@AustralianJA

The association also called for any “NSW government employee engaging in these actions” to be dismissed.

“This is not the first such incident on Sydney trains. It’s understandable if Jewish passengers don’t feel safe.”

Others also called for the driver to be sacked online, with some labelling the incident “disgusting”.

“[The driver] should be fired for hate speech right away,” one person wrote.

“That is grossly offensive. She should be sacked,” said another.

“What the heck is happening in Australia. This is extremely unprofessional,” said another.

However, the person who filmed the video, who wishes to remain anonymous, praised the announcement, arguing the phrase is not calling for genocide but rather freedom.

“There’s no way we’d call for another genocide. What it actually means is that we want the freedom [for] every Palestinian that is living in Palestine on their own land,” they told news.com.au.

“We want them to be treated with basic human rights and not as second class citizens if not worse.”

They said their friends “loved” hearing the message while others around them seemed to be minding their business, on their phones.

“I think it’s cool and it’s a humanitarian cause more than political”.

A spokesperson from Sydney Trains told news.com.au they are “aware of a video circulating on social media and we are looking into this matter”.

Many people online have called for the train driver to be sacked. Picture: Matt Gazy/News Corp Australia

History of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’

Often written on posters and chanted at rallies around the world, the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ remains hotly debated.

The slogan was originally conceived in the 1960s by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), who remain the official representative of Palestinians at the United Nations.

However in the decades since, it has been adopted by different groups, with some interpreting it as a call end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and others seeing it as a call for genocide.

“As the West Bank has begun to shrink, as Gaza and the blockade have occurred, I think the phrase has mutated and evolved into something that is much more nebulous and much more open to interpretation politically,” Andrew Thomas, lecturer in international relations and Middle East studies at Deakin University, told SBS.

“For a lot of people … it is simply about Palestinian solidarity against Israeli occupation.”

Israel-Hamas war rages on

The video comes as Israel vowed to “press harder” in its war with Hamas over the weekend.

“We’re seeing more and more terrorists killed, more and more terrorists wounded, and in recent days we’re seeing terrorists surrendering – this is a sign their network’s falling apart,” Israel army chief Herzi Halevi said at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

On Sunday, the IDF claimed to have struck 22,000 Hamas targets in Gaza since the star of the war, and 3500 since the end of their temporary truce with the terror group.

At least 17,700 Palestinians – mostly women and children – have been killed and more than 48,800 have been wounded since fighting began on October 7, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday.

In Israel, Israeli official sources have confirmed over 1400 people have been killed.

Originally published as Sydney train driver delivers pro-Palestine message over loud speaker