At Australia’s biggest mosque, Albanese heckled as ‘putrid dog, genocide supporter’ for Israel stance

PM hails event as ‘incredibly positive,’ says some of the anger from worshipers stemmed from designation of Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terror group

Protesters heckled and booed Prime Minister Anthony ​Albanese on Friday during a visit to Australia’s largest mosque for Eid al-Fitr prayers, voicing anger over his stance on Israel.

Video showed protesters interrupting proceedings about 15 minutes after Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke joined worshippers at Lakemba Mosque in western Sydney to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Demonstrators booed, told Albanese and Burke to “Get out!” and called them “genocide supporters,” referring to the war in Gaza sparked by the Hamas October 7 attack. Israel has denied all accusations of genocide.

Video appeared to show the Australian prime minister heckled as a “putrid dog” by one man in the crowd.

“Dear brothers and sisters, keep calm a little bit,” one of the organizers told the crowd, urging people to sit down and stop filming the exchange. “It is Eid. It is a joyful day.”

A security guard was seen tackling one heckler to the ground before escorting him away.

“Shame on you!” yelled protesters who followed Albanese and Burke when they left.

The mosque event was “incredibly positive,” Albanese said later, despite the incident.

“If you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000, that should be put in that perspective,” he told reporters, adding that the community had dealt with a couple of hecklers.

He added that some frustration stemmed from the government’s designation this month of Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir as a prohibited hate group on the basis of new laws prompted by a deadly terror attack targeting a Jewish communal event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14.

“I thank them for the very warm reception that occurred. Yes, there were a couple of people who were heckling, some people don’t like the fact that we have outlawed extremist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir, and that brought a response from a couple of people.” he said, according to The Guardian.

Hizb ut-Tahrir’s long-term goal is to establish a Caliphate ruled under Islamic law. Britain and multiple other countries have declared it to be antisemitic organization that promotes terrorism.

Protesters also turned out in February, when President Isaac Herzog visited at Albanese’s invitation to express solidarity with Jewish Australians in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. Thousands attended a rally in Sydney, where 27 people were arrested after clashes with police.

Many in Australia’s Jewish community say the government, and Albanese in particular, have “abandoned” them, arguing that clear warning signs and a spate of antisemitic attacks were ignored in the lead-up to the Bondi massacre.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the Gaza war and setting off a tidal wave of antisemitism across the globe, Australia’s Jewish community has been among the hardest hit.