{"id":4568,"date":"2026-05-04T14:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4568\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T14:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:35:08","slug":"fearing-hostilities-sydney-cancels-controversial-globalize-the-intifada-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/4568\/","title":{"rendered":"Fearing hostilities, Sydney cancels controversial \u2018Globalize the intifada\u2019 forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mayor of Sydney said Monday that she had canceled a controversial forum promoting the slogan \u201cGlobalize the intifada.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event, set to take place on Tuesday as the Royal Commission holds an inquiry<\/a> into the country\u2019s growing antisemitism problem, had drawn sharp condemnation from political and Jewish leaders. It was planned to take place as the state of New South Wales considers banning public use of the phrase.<\/p>\n

On Monday evening, Mayor Clover Moore posted on social media that she had asked the city\u2019s CEO to cancel the event out of concern that it would \u201ccontribute to hostility and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have long supported the principles of peaceful assembly, protest and freedom of speech,\u201d she wrote<\/a> on Facebook. \u201cHowever, these rights must always be balanced with a responsibility to ensure public safety and respect for all members of our diverse community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore blamed local media owned by news magnate Rupert Murdoch for amplifying tensions over the event. News outlets have \u201cexploited trauma, painting complex issues in black and white and, in bad faith, demanded our communities take sides,\u201d she said. \u201cI am extremely concerned that in this case, some outlets are driving a discourse of division that has heightened tensions more than any small community event could.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The event was scheduled to be held in the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre, after it had been moved from a state council-owned community center in response to public backlash. NSW council members had previously rebuffed calls to cancel the event, saying they supported freedom of assembly, provided no laws are broken.<\/p>\n

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore has decided to cancel an event supporting the phrase \u201cGlobalise the Intifada\u201d that was set to take place on Tuesday, while sensationally blaming the media for spreading “division”.https:\/\/t.co\/DOwJjQSdJd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies welcomed the decision.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been engaging intensively with the council to explain why this event would endanger public safety and grievously undermine social cohesion,\u201d the organization posted<\/a> on Facebook. \u201cWe are pleased that this toxic event will no longer take place at a council venue and reiterate our calls for this phrase to be proscribed as swiftly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cGlobalize the intifada\u201d has become a flashpoint in public debate, particularly in the aftermath of the December 14 terror attack<\/a> on a Hanukkah party at Bondi Beach that killed 15. Jewish organizations have warned that the language carries connotations of violence, with the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) noting that the term \u201cintifada\u201d is associated with bloody, violent campaigns involving attacks on civilians.<\/p>\n

The event\u2019s organizers, the activist group Stop the War on Palestine, have argued that the term \u201cintifada\u201d \u2014 Arabic for uprising \u2014 represents a legitimate call for political resistance and free speech. A flyer promoting the forum said efforts to ban the phrase were designed to \u201csmear and repress the Palestine movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tNew South Wales police officers watch pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold flags and placards as they march during a rally in Sydney on October 12, 2025. (DAVID GRAY \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

After the Bondi Beach attack, Australian lawmakers proposed tougher laws against hate speech, including a proposed ban<\/a> on the slogan in NSW. The state of Queensland formally proscribed the use of the phrase in March, and NSW Premier Chris Minns has sought to do the same, calling the slogan \u201chateful, violent rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, that effort was complicated last month when the NSW Court of Appeal struck down a set of anti-protest laws that had been proposed by the government, ruling that protecting people from \u201cupsetting or inflammatory\u201d speech was not a sufficient legal reason to burden constitutional rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuppressing public debate of certain kinds may be a means to a legitimate end, but it cannot be a legitimate end in itself,\u201d the justices wrote in their ruling. Analysts believe<\/a> that the ruling may have stymied future efforts to ban political slogans unless there is a clear call to incite hatred, harassment or violence.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tAnti-Israel protesters gather in front of a police station in Surry Hills in Sydney on February 10, 2026, to condemn the police crackdown on protesters demonstrating against President Isaac Herzog\u2019s visit to Australia. (Saeed KHAN \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Germany and Austria have both legislated severe restrictions on the use<\/a> of the phrase, along with other inciteful slogans like \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.\u201d Last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for police to prosecute people chanting it after two Jewish men were stabbed<\/a> in London in a terror attack.<\/p>\n

The Sydney event was scheduled to take place as members of Australia\u2019s Jewish community are offering personal testimony at a public hearing investigating the factors that led to the Bondi Beach attack, in which a father and son killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah event on Australia\u2019s most famous beach in December. Thousands of Jews have submitted applications to bear witness to the effects of antisemitism on their lives since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023, according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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