In recent years, Australia has seen a wave of anti-Israel protests, with activists vocally condemning the Jewish state. While criticism of governments is a cornerstone of democratic discourse, the selective outrage displayed by these protesters reveals troubling inconsistencies.
Why do these demonstrators ignore atrocities committed by regimes like Syria’s, Russia’s, and even Hamas, or the ongoing human rights crises in Africa? This double standard raises questions about whether the protests are motivated by genuine concern for human rights—or by something more sinister, such as antisemitism.
Ignoring Atrocities in Syria and Russia
Syria’s civil war has claimed over 500,000 lives, with Bashar al-Assad’s regime using chemical weapons and indiscriminately targeting civilians. Despite these appalling crimes, large-scale protests against Syria are practically nonexistent in Australia.
Similarly, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused tens of thousands of deaths and displaced millions. Reports of war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, continue to emerge. Yet, Australian streets are conspicuously silent about these issues.
Instead, protesters focus disproportionately on Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy. Israel is a country that upholds freedoms of speech, press, and religion—values that are glaringly absent in many of its neighbours. This selective targeting undermines the protesters’ credibility and raises uncomfortable questions about their motivations.
Hamas’ Atrocities Against Its Own People
Even within the Israel-Palestine context, these activists ignore the brutal actions of Hamas. As the de facto rulers of Gaza, Hamas has been accused of egregious human rights violations against its own people. These include suppressing dissent, restricting women’s rights, and extrajudicial killings.
Hamas enforces strict Islamic law in Gaza, where being part of the LGBTI community is not only socially condemned but can lead to imprisonment, torture, or even execution. Human rights groups have documented cases of LGBTI individuals being subjected to brutal persecution, including forced “confessions” under torture and honour killings.
Amnesty International has reported cases of torture, arbitrary arrests, and forced disappearances within Gaza by Hamas. Protesters who claim to stand for Palestinian rights remain largely silent about these abuses, focusing their ire solely on Israel.
Africa’s Overlooked Crises
Meanwhile, Africa is home to some of the most devastating human rights crises in the world. In Ethiopia, the Tigray War has resulted in over 500,000 deaths and widespread sexual violence, with millions facing famine. In Sudan, the ongoing conflict between rival military factions has led to mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to suffer from a decades-long conflict marked by war crimes, including the use of child soldiers and systematic sexual violence.
These atrocities dwarf the scale of many conflicts yet fail to attract the attention of Australia’s so-called human rights activists.
The Underlying Double Standard
The glaring omission of these atrocities from the activists’ agendas is deeply troubling. By focusing disproportionately on Israel while ignoring the crimes of regimes like Assad’s, Putin’s, Hamas, and various African warlords, these protesters reveal a disturbing bias.
The Anti-Defamation Commission and other watchdogs have noted a rise in antisemitic incidents in Australia, coinciding with the surge in anti-Israel protests. Jewish communities, already vulnerable, face increasing hostility. This troubling trend underscores the need to call out the selective outrage for what it truly is—a veil for antisemitism.
In conclusion, it’s clear to say that human rights advocacy must be consistent. To selectively target Israel while ignoring atrocities in Syria, Russia, Gaza, and Africa is not only hypocritical but undermines the legitimacy of the protesters’ cause.
If Australians truly care about global justice, they must confront all human rights abuses with equal fervor—not just the ones that align with their distorted antisemitic views.
4 thoughts on “Selective Outrage: The Hypocrisy of Anti-Israel Protests in Australia”
WOKEism in our universities is a problem.
These university morons and on our streets (Greens supporters largely) are no better than the Hitler Youth.
Yes, Ivan and Shmuel, what gave many parents of current university students the horrors, was the event at…sorry, can’t recall whether it was Sydney or Melbourne unis. The tutor of a particular class, which we understand were either first year or second year students, ie young and vulnerable, had conspired with pro Hamas interests in their city. The studes rocked up for their tute. The tutor started to conduct the tute, knowing full well what was to occur next. After some 12 minutes, when these poor students had relaxed into the tute topic and actually felt SAFE, two or three Free Pal activists burst into the tute room. The tutor had reported to their overlords prior, that there were students in this class who were almost certainly Jewish, or whom they knew for a cert to be Jewish. The invaders demanded to know if there were any students in the room who supported Israel, ie the studes were terrorised, into revealing this info. Those who did confess allegiance to Israel, were then photographed and the miscreants fled. To this day, we wonder if the chief FreePal rooster in Sydney has any idea of how much ongoing rage this has engendered in the Melbourne middle class and the degree to which its loyalties have swerved from Labor and the Greens, as a direct outcome. Terrorising Jewish students from sheltered backgrounds, in a tute which should have been completely safe, so that virtually all Jewish students are nervous about walking out of uni to the Melbourne Uni tramstop or its Sydney equivalent, is a mighty strange way to gather fresh comrades!
“As the de facto rulers of Gaza, Hamas has been accused of egregious human rights violations against its own people…” Thank you for this excellent article, Adam. Not strictly on topic because I realise you are here speaking of quite extreme to horrific violence…but your words sprang to mind the situation of the 300,000 Remainers of Oct 2023. We watched the following unfold, in as much detail as we could glean from the battleground, in Oct 2023, ie day by day.
The IDF demanded the evacuation of northern Gaza, ie Gaza City and its environs, such as Jabaliya refugee village between GCity and the south Israel border with Gaza. 1.2 million were asked to evacuate to south of the Gazan Wadi, which was an 8 mile/14 k walk to the south, so by no means a vast distance. They all refused, under the influence of their Hamas overlords. They had 24 hours to evacuate. Suddenly the IDF invasion of The Strip was delayed for 4 days because of the need for the Americans to arm up bigtime in Iraq, mainly from Ramstein Base in the Rhineland Palatinate. [subsequent events in Iraq, then proved this saved many American lives]
The IDF gave masses of warning that once the Israeli military cordon was lowered, for those who defied the military cordon and evac orders, there would be no food, water, electricity or fuel. To stay would very probably be fatal because 900,000 Hamas devotees would be sitting in the middle of a battle ground.
By day four, 900,000 Egypto-Arab Gazans changed their minds about sacrificing themselves and their extended families to the will of Allah and for the chance to achieve ultimate victory through death and did evacuate south. The world watched on their telly screens, the fate of these remaining 300,000 who had a childish belief that the Hamas would look after them if they stayed in the north, to embed at least 2000 Hamas fighters. Many young Israeli soldiers are now in the ground because of those 300,000 refusing to evacuate.
The point being, that the Hamas were more than happy to sacrifice these 300,000 Remainers, their fellow Egypto-Arab Gazans, for the Greater Cause. Similarly through last year, 2024, 200,000 sneaked up back into the north via the Western road, often led by doctors and nurses, which surely has to be the definition of madness – because they were “returning to their indigenous soil where they had a right to live.” We heard that late in 2024 there were 500,000 refugees in the north. In the last part of 2024, 400,000 allegedly fled south leaving 100,000 and just in recent days [Jan 2025] we learn that the Israelis are driving the last Remainers south.
Enticing civilians to remain on a battlefield, where they know there will be shelling causing shocking shrapnel fly, plus aerial bombing, surely has to be a form of abuse of one’s own tribal group. As suspected by military experts back in late Oct 2023, the object of maximising civilian Egypto-Arab Gazan bodies in the north, has been all about their propaganda value to the Hamas and Iran: ie” the more dead civilians, the better”, shocking as this is to Western eyes and minds.