‘We love you all, here’s a song for you guys’: Shock as train driver plays banned pro-Palestine song on loudspeaker
Footage has captured a train driver’s surprise pro-Palestine move over the vehicle’s loudspeakers amid escalating violence in the Middle East.
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Footage has captured the moment a pro-Palestinian protest song was played over a Sydney train’s loudspeakers as the driver announces “we love you all, here’s a song for you guys”.
Some commuters reacted with delight as Dammi Falastini, a song by Arab Idol winner Mohammed Assaf, was played following Australian protests against the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict at the weekend.
But Jewish leaders have voiced their outrage at the footage, with Australia’s peak body for Jewish representation calling for the train driver to be sacked.
Thousands of people gathered in the country’s capital cities in support of Palestine on Saturday amid ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip.
In the footage, posted to TikTok, the driver is heard announcing to passengers: “We love you all. Here’s a song for you guys.”
He then plays Dammi Falastini, a song widely considered to be an ode to Palestinian resistance against Israeli military occupation while expressing Mr Assaf’s Palestinian heritage and identity.
The song was removed from Spotify and Apple Music earlier this year to uproar from fans.
A group of women appear ecstatic and begin smiling, even bobbing their heads along with the music as they headed to Sydney’s Town Hall.
“The train driver made our day,” the video’s description reads.
In another video, more passengers are seen laughing when the song is suddenly played on the train.
A Sydney Trains spokeswoman said: “Sydney Trains is aware of the circulating videos on social media and we are looking into this matter.”
The Australian Jewish Association’s (AJA) chief executive Robert Gregory called for the train driver to be sacked for “political advocacy on the taxpayer’s dollar”.
“After the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust, some have taken to celebrating and calling for more violence,” he claimed.
Mr Robert claimed the rallies over the weekend included “incitement to violence and anti-Semitism”.
“Sydney’s public transport is for everyone not for political activism and we call on the NSW Government to take action immediately,” he said.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have begun bombing Gaza in retribution for recent attacks by the Islamist militant movement Hamas, which has killed more than 1400 people since October 7.
The escalating violence has increased the Palestinian death toll to 5087, including 2055 children.
A further 15,273 people have been injured, local health authorities say.
Hamas is still keeping some 200 hostages, Israeli media say.
The weekend’s protests in Australia were held in response to the response by Israel and the IDF, with world leaders now weighing in to find a solution to the conflict.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) on Saturday urged Australians to unite their voices in a call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
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Originally published as ‘We love you all, here’s a song for you guys’: Shock as train driver plays banned pro-Palestine song on loudspeaker
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