StandWithUs moves to counter Sydney anti-Israel events

StandWithUs Australia has confirmed it will attend and peacefully respond to two upcoming anti-Israel and antisemitic events being promoted in Sydney public spaces.

The organisation will also continue to call on relevant authorities to prevent them from proceeding. The first event, promoted as “Gadigal to Gaza Origami Flotilla”, is currently advertised for Coogee Beach on Sunday, 3 May. While organisers describe it as “not a protest”, the event flyer welcomes keffiyehs, flags and banners and promotes the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The second event, titled “Why it’s right to say, ‘Globalise the Intifada’”, is currently advertised for Tuesday, 5 May, at the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre in Darlinghurst, a City of Sydney venue.

StandWithUs Australia Executive Director Michael Gencher said the organisation’s first priority is to see these events stopped before they proceed.

“These are not harmless community gatherings. They are part of a continued attempt to bring divisive, hostile, anti-Israel and antisemitic activism into public community spaces,” Mr Gencher said.

“Public beaches, community centres and council venues are meant to be places for families, locals and the broader community. They should not be hijacked for divisive political theatre or used to stage events that inflame tensions, intimidate Jewish Australians, and promote hostility towards Israel.”

Despite criticism, NSW Premier Chris Minns and other senior state politicians have said they will not move to block the event on council property, saying the decision rests with City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.

The anti-Israel events are being promoted just months after the December 14 terror attack by ISIS sympathisers at Bondi Beach, in which 15 people were killed during a Chanukah gathering. The attack, the deadliest terrorist incident in Australian history, continues to cast a long shadow over the Jewish community.

Mr Gencher said StandWithUs Australia was not organising counter-protests for the sake of confrontation but would not allow these events to proceed without a peaceful and visible community response.

“Our position is clear. We are doing everything we can to have these events cancelled. That is our first priority,” he said.

“But if they are allowed to proceed, we will be there. We will attend peacefully, we will make our presence known, and we will explain clearly why this rhetoric and activism are wrong.”

Mr Gencher said the phrase “Globalise the Intifada” was especially concerning.

“This phrase is not abstract. It is threatening, offensive and deeply provocative. The word intifada is tied to periods of violence, terrorism and attacks against Israelis and Jews. To hold a public forum defending that phrase in a council venue is completely unacceptable,” he said.

“If people are given a public platform to defend language tied to violence and terror, then our community has every right to attend and say why it is wrong.”

StandWithUs Australia said its response would be peaceful, lawful, and focused on ensuring the Jewish and pro-Israel communities are not silent.

“If we are permitted inside the Darlinghurst forum, we will make our case inside. If we are not permitted inside, we will stand outside on the public footpath with signs, with our words and with our community,” Mr Gencher said.

“The same principle applies at Coogee Beach. It is a public beach, but ‘public’ does not mean it should be hijacked by activists seeking to import hostility, division and antisemitic intimidation into a place where families and local residents should feel safe and welcome.”

Mr Gencher said the issue was not only about these two events but also about a broader failure to act when anti-Israel hostility and antisemitic intimidation are pushed into public spaces.

“Every time something like this is allowed to pass without consequence, it becomes easier for the next event, the next slogan and the next act of intimidation to follow,” he said.

“If we allow it to continue, it will continue. If we fail to draw the line, the line simply moves further.”

StandWithUs Australia is calling on the City of Sydney, Randwick City Council, the NSW Government and all relevant authorities to take these matters seriously and act before these events proceed.

“Leadership cannot just be words. It has to be action,” Mr Gencher said.

“Our community will respond calmly, firmly and visibly. We will not be silent while our beaches, community centres and public spaces are turned into stages for hostility towards Israel and the Jewish community.”