Following the news that antisemitic graffiti had been scrawled on a billboard in Melbourne this morning, and amid concerns over planned pro-Palestine protests, opposition spokesman for industrial relations Tim Wilson claimed that “Hamas has won a propaganda war” here in Australia.
“Hamas has won a propaganda war every step of the way, and unfortunately, there are people who look at innocent civilians being used as human shields, as Israeli hostages being held behind now for two years, and sadly, some people have been taken in by this propaganda,” Wilson said this morning on Sky.
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tim Wilson. Credit: Paul Jeffers
“There is some sections, sadly, of the Australian community who want to sow division, to turn hatred towards particularly the Jewish community, to use it as a basis to drive broader division within society and to inflame extremism. It’s why good people need to stand up, and it’s one of the tragedies of the past two years, there’s been many tragedies, but the biggest tragedy has been a failure of leadership, particularly from Canberra and particularly from our state premier in Victoria, where we’ve seen consistent rise of extremism.
“They’ve failed to put it out, and as a consequence, it’s created permissive environment where now many people are fearful for their safety, in a community where this has not been the norm in the past,” he said.
Wilson also condemned planned protests by pro-Palestine groups, saying he hoped they would not go ahead. “I hope [it] doesn’t go ahead because, think about the number of lives that have been lost, think about the families have been separated, think about the people who have had their children killed by Hamas. And you really think this is something we should be celebrating or congratulating?”
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