Fifty Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since last Saturday. Tomorrow, Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, will step off a private jet in Sydney, and our prime minister will welcome him with open arms. Those who oppose Israel’s genocide must take to the streets every single day of his visit, holding photos of the hospitals and schools his government has razed to the ground, of the tents flapping in icy winds next to mass graves, and of the starvation conditions still ravaging Gaza.
We can’t sit by while a chief representative of a genocidal apartheid state is welcomed by Australia’s political establishment. To fail to protest would rip something from each of us that we could never recover—a small piece of the precious humanity we share with the Palestinians enduring one of the worst crimes of the 21st century.
Basic democratic rights are being overturned to facilitate this war criminal’s smooth passage on a propaganda tour around the country. The Queensland government plans to ban the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” during Herzog’s stay. The NSW government has extended a ban on marches for the duration of his visit, and plans to close roads in the centre of Sydney for the same period. This from a government that said a four-hour march over the Sydney Harbour bridge would be too disruptive. Of course, masses of people will march anyway. Josh Lees of Palestine Action Group told Red Flag:
“The streets of Sydney belong to the people, not to Chris Minns or the Israeli president. Minns wants to turn Sydney into a little piece of Israel to make Herzog feel at home, complete with an enormous police occupation, road closures and checkpoints. We will not be silenced or intimidated. Huge numbers will protest in Sydney to show that we stand against genocide.”
A week before Christmas, Eman Abu al-Khair’s newborn baby froze to death in her arms. Mohammed was tiny, and Eman had only a tent and her own body to protect him from the winter engulfing Gaza. Israel’s political and military leaders, like President Herzog, are responsible for Mohammed’s death, alongside the estimated 71,000 Palestinians they have killed in just two years. After destroying more than 80 percent of buildings, Israel is preventing mobile homes from entering Gaza, along with tent poles, nappies, tools, equipment to rebuild water sanitisation systems and other items deemed “dual use”.
Five days after Mohammed died, Albanese phoned Herzog and invited him to Australia. When Albanese picked up the phone, did he spare a single thought for Eman and Mohammed? Or for the tens of thousands of men, women and children slaughtered in Gaza by Israel? Or for families of the estimated 9,000 people buried and under the rubble of destroyed homes? Did he picture in his mind’s eye the swollen bellies of the children starved to death under Herzog’s watch, or the torture chambers that have been filled during his presidency?
Herzog is infamous for his incitements to genocide. In 2024, he spoke out against the International Court of Justice for “twisting” this statement: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true ... and we will fight until we break their backbone”.
His defence of this statement? “Hamas operates from the heart of the civilian population everywhere, from children’s bedrooms in homes, from schools, from mosques, and hospitals.” Even his attempt to humanise himself included a justification for bombing children’s bedrooms. It came after a year in which footage emerged nearly every day of screaming parents clutching the corpses of infants and children, of mothers being handed plastic bags with random, disjointed body parts that were supposed to match the estimated weight of their own children. Children who should, right now, be playing on the beach. Children who should be laughing in their parents’ arms, working out their own personalities, learning to express themselves.
And what of our leaders? Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will pose for photos and shake hands with the man who justified the bombing of children and the wholesale destruction of a territory. In bringing Herzog to Australia, Labor is turning a criminal into a statesman worthy of the red carpet. It is up to us—you, me, your neighbours, your friends—to show the world that we know him to be a criminal. When his plane touches down, join your local march. Hold your head high. Show the Palestinians that they do not walk alone.
