Piers Akerman: Hamas applauding pro-Palestinian statements made by Aussies

Every pro-Palestinian statement made by the Australian government, and even by student protesters, is applauded by Hamas and its supporters, writes Piers Akerman.

It is eight months since 3000 well-organised Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing, raping, torturing and kidnapping civilians – and Australia’s response has been atrocious.

Just hours after a Hamas leader told his squad to bring the body of a dead Israeli soldier back to Gaza for “the people to play with him in Alam Square”, Foreign Minister Penny Wong was giving advice to Israel on how to respond to the atrocity.

Even as Israeli troops and first responders were still searching in shot-up cars and burnt-out homes for survivors, Wong took to X to urge Israel to exercise restraint.

No such cautions were given to Western Sydney Imam Ibrahim Dadoun, who excitedly declared to a cheering crowd “I’m elated – it’s a day of courage”, nor to the mob that assembled at the Opera House even before Israel had begun to retaliate.

We now know more about the invasion because a copy of the manual that was issued to Hamas commanders has been captured and a compilation of radio messages, captured Hamas body camera footage, CCTV footage, mobile phone data, and dashcam images has been assembled by the Israeli military. This record is now in its 23rd version, updated as more material is found.

Palestinians celebrate their return after crossing the border fence with Israel from Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023. Picture: Said Khatib/AFP

I was among a group of Australian journalists who viewed it in a secure room at the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in recent days. The material is extremely confronting. Some left the room. What is most striking, and nauseating, is the extraordinary jubilation of the terrorists as they decapitated some of their victims or pursued fleeing groups of young men and women who had been surprised by a dawn raid on the Nova music festival.

Members of Israeli security forces carry an injured person on a stretcher following a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. Picture: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP

The attackers may have been drugged on captagon, a drug widely available across the Middle East, or in the throes of the same sort of religious ecstasy that grips jihadists and suicide bombers.

Their selfies show them euphorically firing automatic rifles at unarmed civilians, tossing grenades into covered bus shelters and homes, killing a father in front of his two young sons, and setting fire to homes with young people trapped inside.

The terrorists and the people of Gaza are beyond gleeful as they parade their captives, dead and alive, with men and women rushing to beat the Israeli bodies, to spit on them, and to hold their phones aloft to capture the moment.

Israel, which has deep historical ties to Australia, is bewildered by the Albanese government’s lack of support and implicit criticisms at this critical time.

Not only has the Labor-Greens government broken the longstanding bipartisan support for the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, it split with our greatest and essential ally, the United States, and joined Canada and New Zealand – two hugely irrelevant nations – in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

A year earlier, Australia had grossly insulted Israel by reversing its decision to recognise West Jerusalem as that nation’s capital and failing to officially notify Israel before the media leaked the decision – on an important religious holiday.

What is apparent from these juvenile ideological descents into foreign affairs is that the Albanese government has lost the faith of our largest ally, the United States, and a close friend, Israel, both of whom we need to keep close for defensive purposes.

Originally published as Piers Akerman: Hamas applauding pro-Palestinian statements made by Aussies