Jewish groups condemn Sydney bakery for Hamas-themed birthday party

Jewish groups have rushed to condemn a Sydney bakery after it promoted images Hamas-themed birthday party, with a four-year-old boy pictured alongside a cake decorated with images of a notorious terrorist.

A Sydney bakery has advertised Hamas themed cakes and cupcakes, using a child model wearing camouflage and keffiyeh.

A Sydney bakery is under fire for posting images of what appears to be a Hamas-themed birthday party, including cupcakes and cake decorated with images of a notorious terrorist.

Oven Bakery by Fufu uploaded the photos to Instagram on Tuesday and then took them down when the posts were flooded with criticism.

One of the images was of a boy dressed in the same red keffiyeh and camouflage jacket as the infamous terrorist depicted on the birthday cake – Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida. The birthday cake read, “Omar is 4”.

A boy was photographed mimicking the action as Obaida, with his finger pointed in front of his face just like the masked terrorist.

The business is registered at an Auburn address in western Sydney.

Jewish groups were quick to condemn the bakery for promoting terrorism to young children.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the bakery and the parents of the child should be held accountable for “glorifying extremism”.

“It takes a rare kind of psychosis to want to teach infant children that Hamas terrorists are to be admired and emulated,” Mr Ryvchin said.

A Sydney bakery has advertised Hamas themed cakes and cupcakes. Picture: Instagram

“Boys with normal parents will be celebrating with Batman or Real Madrid themes, which nurture an understanding of good versus evil, healthy role models and striving for excellence. “This boy is being taught to look up to suicide bombers, rapists and torturers of children no older than him. If this is what is happening in some Sydney homes, we should prepare for a generation of violent extremists,” he said.

Mr Ryvchin also called for police to become involved in the matter in his condemnation of the incident.

“The parents and the baker who thought it was acceptable to glorify proscribed terrorists should be ashamed.

“The authorities should be aware of this incident,” he said.

Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the apparent “glorification” of terrorism was particularly shocking for members of the community, himself included, who have lost family at the hands of Hamas.

Oven Bakery initially defended the posts celebrating “Omar is 4” as controversial before the social media take-down. Picture: Instagram.

“As someone who lost a relative to Palestinian terrorism, I feel like I have been kicked in the stomach, and I certainly would not want to buy from this bakery,” he said.

“To see the public glorification and endorsement of the October 7 Hamas atrocities and to portray these evil monsters as heroes by a local business is sickening and will shock the conscience of most Australians.”

While the business’ Instagram account has since been deleted, screenshots shared with The Australian shows some Instagram users had complimented the child and called him a “cutie masallah” and a “champion”.

It is understood Oven Bakery originally defended the party in a follow-up Instagram story, claiming “some people may find this controversial but whatevs,” before the account was swarmed with criticism.

Another screenshot shared with The Australian shows that the business had previously commented on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“Don’t give up on your fight, for what is rightfully ours!” the bakery wrote on 15 October, just a week after the October 7 terrorist attacks.

Previous social media posts of Oven Bakery by Fufu.

The image was of a man in front of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem – one of Islam’s holiest sites – with a large hand superimposed on top grasping the Palestinian flag.

“The future generation of the world will know your courage, your honour, your fight against Israel, the greatest tyrants of all time!” the caption read.

“More importantly the world will know your freedom! It is inevitable!”

Premier Chris Minns labelled the incident “horrifying” and condemned “Hamas (as) an evil terrorist organisation,” according to The Daily Telegraph.

“Kids parties should be innocent and fun, not hateful,” Mr Minns said.

Dr Abramovich said the images have left Jewish communities particularly on-edge as pro-Palestine university protests continue across the country.

“Let’s be clear, this dangerous call to arms is an incitement to violence and only flames an already dangerous climate of anti-Semitism that is spiralling out of control in this country and which puts not only Jewish lives at risk but the lives of everyone,” he said.

“In a time of escalating radicalism and a growing rhetoric of intolerance against anyone who is Jewish or who supports Israel, words and images do matter and can have real-world consequences.

“It is not surprising that the Jewish community in Sydney and across the nation is feeling on edge, leaving many to ask whether this extremist sentiment and conduct will end in tragedy.”