Naveed Akram charged; Sajid Akram’s Hyderabad links probed; Anthony Albanese defended after John Howard, Josh Frydenberg antisemitism comments; Chris Minns flags NSW gun reform, protest laws;
Israeli diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying that the slogans chanted at the large pro-Palestinian march on the Sydney Harbor Bridge provoked the environment that led to the Bondi massacre.
Speaking at the commemoration ceremony held in memory of the victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in which 15 people were killed by father-son gunmen on Sunday, Chikli said the events were not a surprising development.
Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, is embraced by a Rabbi at a flower ceremony near Bondi Mansion on Tuesday.Credit: access point
“The writing was on the wall in capital letters, warning signs have been flashing for the last two years,” he told a congregation of Jewish-Australians at Chabad Bondi late Wednesday.
He specifically targeted phrases such as “Globalize the Intifada” and “From river to sea.”
Mr Chikli also claimed that the presence of outlawed Islamic State and Hamas flags, as well as Palestinian flags, on the bridge were problematic symbols.
“We heard no condemnation [Australian] prime minister… on the contrary, we saw the recognition of the Palestinian state,” Mr. Chikli said.
“It was a terrible terrorist attack but it was well predicted… This is a direct result of the statements regarding the Sydney (Harbor) Bridge and the previous attacks.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters march towards the Sydney Harbor Bridge on August 3.Credit: Getty Images
The Israeli minister said Mr Albanese had avoided pointing to Islamic terrorist extremists as the cause of the atrocities and instead hid behind arms reforms.
“The problem is ideology, not weapons… it’s time to wake up,” he said.
Surviving terrorist Naveed Akram was charged with 59 offenses on Wednesday, four days after his father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed in a shootout with police.
AAP
