Underbelly actor Firass Dirani expresses support for Hamas, claims supporting Israel is ‘supporting apartheid’
Firass Dirani has claimed anyone supporting Israel is ‘supporting apartheid’, as he praised Palestinian militants who attacked the Jewish homeland.
Australian actor Firass Dirani has claimed anyone supporting Israel is “supporting apartheid” in a social media post in which he expressed support for Palestinian militants who attacked the Jewish homeland.
The former Underbelly and Home and Away actor complained in the video that the designated terrorist organisation Hamas is being “propagated against as if they’re a terrorist militant group”.
Viewers of his post labelled Mr Dirani as a “coward” for blocking followers who challenged him on his comments, while Jewish leaders labelling him as having “no brain or no soul”.
In a post to his Instagram Stories on Monday described by one viewer as “demonic”, Mr Dirani compared the Hamas attack on Israel with Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.
“Seeing some people posting about in support of the Israeli flag and in a way that Hamas has been propagated against as if they’re a terrorist militant group,” Mr Dirani, who has 63,000 followers, said.
“Not too long ago the Ukrainian people were armed and were fighting against Russia, and they were called heroes and people that were resisting, resisting the oppressors, and now when the Palestinians resist the oppressors, that has been going on for 75 years, they’re labelled something else.
“They’re labelled as terrorists or militants, savages. They have every right to defend themselves, and for those who are supporting Israel, ones that are posting the Israeli flag, you are supporting apartheid, you are supporting apartheid, period.”
Instagram users who have criticised and condemned Mr Dirani for his views say they have been blocked by the actor.
Advertising and tech entrepreneur Carly Shamgar labelled Mr Dirani’s comments as “cowardly and disgraceful”.
“I was questioning whether he’s actually stable, he sounded demonic, it really put the fear of God into me,” Ms Shamgar said.
“I was on a WhatsApp chat with my friends and we could not believe what we were listening to, with such a platform of 63,000 people and the ability to share on Instagram, it’s just not okay.
“It‘s cowardly and its disgraceful, if you’re going to have the audacity to film yourself to camera to 63,000 followers proclaiming that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation and had every right to do what they did, then you need to engage in a civil conversation with people that actually challenge that.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin also condemned the views.
“Anyone who could express solidarity with the beheaders of children, who rape women next to warm corpses and haul old women into captivity either has no brain or no soul,” Mr Ryvchin said.
“These people should be treated exactly as someone who supports ISIS or Nazism. They have revealed themselves and should face the consequences.”
The Australian has contacted Mr Dirani for comment.
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