Grace Tame has called on supporters to boycott Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, accusing governments of “weaponising antisemitism” to “distract and divide” Australians amid the conflict in Gaza.
Her remarks marked Tame’s first public appearance supporting the Palestinian cause since she apologised for appearing to dismiss reports of rapes allegedly carried out by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.
The 31-year-old addressed an estimated crowd of 5,000 people at the “Global Day for Gaza” rally in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday.
The protest was held three years after Israel launched its assault on the Palestinian enclave following the October 7 attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
More than 74,000 people have since been killed and 175,000 wounded in Israeli bombardments, according to Palestinian health officials.
Tame opened her speech by criticising the Australian government’s support for Israel.
“There is nothing really I can add to this conversation because we all know the truth — we know of Israel’s violent establishment in 1948, of the brutal occupation, of the racialised policies, of the settler violence, of our own government’s complicity in all of these atrocities,” Tame told protesters on Sunday.
“We know about the cynical weaponisation of antisemitism, which is just another tool to distract and divide us.”
Grace Tame, 31, accused governments of “weaponising antisemitism” to “distract and divide” Australians while addressing a “Global Day for Gaza” protest in Sydney
Organisers estimated that about 5,000 people took to Sydney’s streets on Sunday in solidarity with Palestinians
Tame then gestured towards two men in the crowd holding a sign that read, “Jews against the occupation”.
“This is not about religion, it’s not about that, it’s not about hatred, or valuing any individual’s or any group’s life ahead of any other.
“It’s about stopping the violence.”
The former Australian of the Year also urged demonstrators to “use their power with every dollar they spend”.
“Don’t buy the Daily Telegraph, don’t buy any Murdoch rag. I’ve got some uses for them but I won’t name them today…” she said.
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“Do it in every sphere you have influence.”
Robert Gregory, president of the Australian Jewish Association, told the Daily Mail that Tame’s remarks were “deeply offensive” to Jewish Australians who had experienced a rise in antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is not a political weapon or a distraction. It is a very real threat to Jewish Australians, who have faced intimidation, harassment and violence. At Bondi Beach, we saw where unchecked antisemitism leads,” Mr Gregory said.
Tame shared this selfie on social media, marking her first public return to the Palestinian cause since apologising for appearing to dismiss reports of rapes allegedly carried out by Hamas during the October 7 attacks
“There is nothing cynical about calling out antisemitism. What is cynical is attempting to discredit those who speak out against it simply because their experiences are politically inconvenient.
‘Grace Tame should be standing with victims of antisemitism, not dismissing their concerns.’
Tame’s protest come just weeks after she apologised for appearing to dismiss reports of sexual violence carried out by Hamas during the October 7 attacks as ‘propaganda’ and claiming the allegations had been ‘debunked’.
The said her comments, which were made during an interview with ABC Sydney Mornings host Hamish Macdonald in March, had been misinterpreted by the media.
She also copped widespread criticism after leading a crowd in chanting ‘globalise the intifada’ at a Sydney rally in February.
The furore led to Tame being dropped from an anti-rape campaign run by one of Australia’s most prestigious schools. She also faced calls to be stripped of her Australian of the Year title.
‘This is not the first time I’ve been made a villain for speaking out,’ Tame wrote in a post at the time, defending her use of the phrase.
‘It is however the first time I’ve been cast in a worse light than a criminal state.
‘In the pursuit of justice, proportion, fairness, and truth, I refuse to be silent.’
In her video, she directed her critics to watch an investigation by Al Jazeera, a Qatari state-funded international news network, into the ongoing Israeli operations in Gaza and the alleged deployment of US-made bombs.