Sydney ‘globalise the intifada’ forum “goes underground” after council venue cancelled

A controversial Sydney forum defending the slogan “Globalise the Intifada” has been forced out of a City of Sydney venue following public backlash, with organisers claiming the decision has “sent the intifada conference underground” as they shift to a new outdoor location.

The event, titled “Why it’s right to say Globalise the Intifada”, was organised by the antizionist group Stop The War On Palestine and had been scheduled to take place at a council-owned site tomorrow night before Lord Mayor Clover Moore intervened.

The poster features a photo of accused Bondi shooter Naveed Akram.

“I have asked the City’s CEO to withdraw the booking of an event in a city-owned venue that is advertised as: ‘Why it is right to say Globalise the Intifida’,” Moore said.

“I have long supported the principles of peaceful assembly, protest and freedom of speech. However, these rights must always be balanced with a responsibility to ensure public safety and respect for all members of our diverse community.”

Before the cancellation, organisers had already shifted the forum between venues, moving it from the East Sydney Community Arts Centre to the Darlington Activity Centre, near Redfern.

Following the council’s decision, new promotional material circulated online announcing a fresh location and format. The poster declares “Globalise the Intifada?” and “New location”, alongside the slogan “Radicals out of Sydney!”, and advertises a 6pm gathering at Sydney Park, near Princes Highway and St Peters station.

The material states the council’s cancellation had “sent the INTIFADA conference underground” and promotes “speeches in front of a giant TV screen of actual Intifada”, claiming this would ensure “Australian media and government understand what Intifada is”. It also indicates police are expected to attend.

NSW Premier Chris Minns as well as Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane had both urged the council to prevent the event from proceeding at a public venue.

At the centre of the controversy is the slogan itself. For most Jewish people, the word “intifada” is not just a neutral political term. It is tied to periods of sustained violence against Israeli civilians, so when it is used as a slogan, it can feel like a call to repeat that violence.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said it was concerning that the issue had escalated to this point.

“It should not have required a public campaign, weeks of commentary and approaches to the Lord Mayor by the daughter of a murdered Bondi hero for this to happen,” he said.

“A council holding an intifada event after a terror attack sounds like a sick joke.

“There is a royal commission happening now, and it should investigate what on earth is going on in local government and how public bodies are facilitating the sort of incitement that makes the royal commission necessary.”

Before the outdoor venue was announced, David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said the cancellation at a council venue was necessary to protect public safety and social cohesion.

“We are greatly relieved that the Lord Mayor has exercised her discretion to cancel the ‘Globalise the Intifada’ event which was scheduled to take place tomorrow night,” he said.

“We have been engaging intensively with the council right up until this evening to explain why this event would have endangered public safety and grievously undermine social cohesion.

“It is entirely appropriate that the City of Sydney Council has now refused to provide a venue for such an event.”

Ossip said the slogan had already been formally recognised as dangerous in the Australian context.

“This is particularly the case in light of further inflammatory and dangerous social media activity today from one of the event’s scheduled speakers.

“The phrase ‘Globalise the Intifada’ has been recognised by a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry as a call to violence against Jewish Australians. It essentially means kill or maim a Jew wherever you find one.

“It is synonymous with suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings.

“Post 14 December, no one can claim ignorance about where dangerous rhetoric and incitement like this can lead.”

Sheina Gutnick, whose father was among the 15 people killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack in December 2025, welcomed the cancellation of the council booking.

“It’s the first step to genuine protection for our community,” she said, describing the planned forum as “horrific hate speech”.

A spokesperson for StandWithUs Australia said the issue extended beyond a single venue.

“We are pleased the event has now been cancelled, but this cannot be treated as the end of the matter. The attempt to normalise slogans such as ‘Globalise the Intifada’ will not disappear because one forum was stopped. We will need to remain vigilant, clear, and united in pushing back whenever this language is used, excused, or dressed up as legitimate political debate,” the organisation said.

The shift to an outdoor location is likely to raise further questions about how such events are managed outside formal venues, as the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion continues to examine the broader climate of rising antisemitism in Australia.