Australian comedian Nazeem Hussain has lashed out at Anthony Albanese for siding with Israel in a fiery speech at a protest rally, noting that the prime minister previously supported Palestine in his parliamentary campaign.
Hussain, 38, spoke at Melbourne’s State Library on Sunday afternoon during the third consecutive week of nationwide protests against Free Palestine.
“I never imagined that Albo would defend war crimes under the guise of defending Israel’s right to defend itself,” Hussain told the crowd of thousands.
He then compared Mr Albanese’s advocacy for an indigenous voice in Parliament to what he described as the “brutal murder of indigenous Palestinians”.
Mr Albanese co-founded the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine committee when he was deputy prime minister in 2013, and also attended a Free Palestine protest in Sydney decades ago.
Nazeem Husain, 38, gave a speech at the third consecutive Free Palestine protest in Melbourne on Sunday, where he criticized Anthony Albanese for reversing his support for Palestine.
The prime minister has fervently supported Israel since the war against the Jewish state and Hamas broke out on October 7
But after the Hamas-led terror attack on Israel that killed 1,400 people and the taking of more than 200 Israeli hostages, Mr. Albanese pledged his support for Israel and recognized the country’s right to defend itself.
“People who try to draw a parallel or argue the equivalence between Israeli activities in their retaliation for the strikes and the barbaric attacks that we have seen by Hamas – there is no comparison,” he told Sky News.
However, Mr Hussain claimed the Prime Minister was supporting Israel, which he said was killing helpless Palestinians who were “murdered in the dark”.
“When Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister, I must admit I was a little excited; I’ll tell you why,” Hussain said as the crowd booed the mention of Mr Albanese’s election victory.
‘Number one: Well, he’s not Peter Dutton, so I was glad a potato didn’t become Prime Minister.
“Number two: He promised justice for First Nation people.
‘And number three, important: he co-founded the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine Committee.
“I never imagined that the same man who campaigned on the Voice to uplift First Nations people and Indigenous Australians would a week later endorse and justify the brutal murder of indigenous Palestinians.
“I really believed that Anthony Albanese was someone who stood up to the bully, not stood by him. Has he forgotten who he is?’
In the nine-minute speech, Hussain attacks other politicians, including Peter Dutton and other world leaders who have supported Israel.
Since the war broke out on October 7, after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and massacred visitors to a music festival before taking hundreds of hostages, many world leaders have strongly supported Israel’s right to defend itself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately declared war on Hamas, and the ensuing conflict has left hundreds dead every day for the three weeks since.
Hussein called out Israel’s tactics in the war, including airstrikes and cutting off food, water and electricity to the people living in Gaza, calling them war crimes.
He also slammed opposition leader Peter Dutton for suggesting that anyone taking part in Free Palestine rallies and living in Australia on a visa should be deported.
Hussain came up with an alternative idea.
“Peter Dutton says we should go back to where we came from, why don’t you go back to where you came from? “Go back to your daddy’s balls, you son of a bitch,” he said.
Mr Albanese had previously supported the Free Palestine movement, having set up the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine Committee in 2013 when he was Deputy Prime Minister and attending a protest in Sydney decades ago (pictured)
However, since the outbreak of the war, Mr Albanese has quickly reversed this support and backed Israel, which he believes has the right to defend itself.
Hussain also called on world leaders including Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, all of whom stood fervently behind Israel.
“They know which side they are on, but we also know which side we are on.”
He drew parallels between the current war and the war in Iraq, which began in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks more than two decades ago.
Hussain claimed that governments around the world were lying about the country’s stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction, and that governments were again lying about the situation in Palestine.
Hussein thanked the Jewish people who attended Sunday’s rally, who he said “paid a very, very heavy personal price for their solidarity with the Palestinians.”
The comedian, who has appeared on TV several times, including on the 2017 season of “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” and as a guest on “The Project,” said he expected to be canceled because of his views.
“We will all be demonized for not recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself,” he said.
“But again, lies. We know who we are just as much as they try to mischaracterize us, we know who we are.
“We all know that Gaza will rise again, we all know that Palestine will rise again and the Palestinians will continue their struggle for justice.”
Hussain, who has previously appeared on hit TV shows such as The Project and I’m a Celebrity, said he was likely to be canceled because of his speech
Since the war began, thousands of Palestinian sympathizers have appeared in cities across Australia every Sunday