Australian neo-Nazis, far-right figures and members of the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine “freedom movement” have taken to pro-Palestine activism since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, with some outright celebrating it as a way to bring anti-Semitism into the mainstream.
As in the United States, opportunistic fringe figures and groups have begun to glom onto the pro-Palestine movement as a growing number of Australians support it. Their extreme views don’t represent the larger movement — they find themselves on opposite sides on many other issues — but these groups recognise the value of capitalising on the salience of this conflict. For them, it’s an opportunity to grow their audience and mobilise their existing supporters in the same way as they used previous issues such as COVID-19 lockdowns and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Pro-Russian commentator Simeon Boikov, a registered Russian foreign agent who goes by the online alias “Aussie Cossack”, has helped organise and promote a coming pro-Palestine protest. The World Wide Rally for Freedom has been a regular protest since the start of the pandemic and has traditionally called for anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown demand. Its protest scheduled for this weekend in Sydney is branded as “Free Palestine” and is calling for a ceasefire.
Other figures have thrown their support behind it. Australian neo-Nazi Daniel Walker, the man behind pseudonymous YouTube account Blacklisted Research and who gained a following during the Voice campaign pandemic for his racist, anti-Voice videos, promoted the protest on Telegram. Similarly, Syrian-Australian conspiracy theorist Maram Susli who uses “Syrian Girl” and “Partisan Girl” as her online nom de plumes has shared posts advertising the protest as well as amplifying Aussie Cossack’s other anti-Israel content (such as a conspiracy theory that Israel was behind Australia’s lockdowns).
Other members of the freedom movement have been involved in pro-Palestinian protests: former anti-vaccine solicitor Serene Teffaha spoke at a Free Palestine Rally in Geelong in early November. Telegram group Sydney Freedom Channel promoted a Sydney-based United for Palestine protest last weekend, and similarly named Sydney Freedom Community shared a highlight reel of the protest after it happened.
Other extremists view this as an opportunity to mainstream their hateful beliefs by misleadingly conflating opposition to Israel’s efforts with anti-Semitism. National Socialist Network leader Tom Sewell celebrated the Hamas attack and Israel’s retaliation earlier last month on Telegram, arguing that the violence would turn Australians against Jewish people. Neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell shared a video of an individual criticising Israel’s attacks with the caption: “Antisemitism [sic] appears to be on the verge of mainstream political discourse.”
Australian anti-fascist researchers have warned against amplifying these figures when supporting the pro-Palestine movement. Conspiracy and freedom movement watcher Scobie McKay noted that X account @meanwhileinmelbourne, which was sharing footage of pro-Palestine protests, has “long promoted far-right agitations against migrants, the LGBTQIA+ community and Jewish people”. Researcher Tom Tanuki said anti-lockdown figures had contacted him in support of his pro-Palestine activism — but he said he wouldn’t work with them over their history of anti-LGBTQIA+ activism.
“It isn’t my place to say how broad a church anti-genocide activism should be! But I will not go there,” he tweeted.
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