Lidia Thorpe’s story about why she posted a photo of herself wearing a Hamas headband has taken a new turn. The story has been reported to the police and a second mocking tweet she deleted has resurfaced.
The independent Victorian senator posted the provocative selfie on Facebook on Tuesday but deleted it hours later, telling Daily Mail Australia she was unaware the headband was linked to the terrorist group.
The photo shows Ms Thorpe openly supporting Palestine in the ongoing conflict with Israel. She is smiling, holding a mug and wearing a green headband with the words ‘I love chocolate milk’ in Arabic letters.
The caption, alongside two chocolate bar emojis, read: ‘I wholeheartedly support this message. I hope you do too!’
One critic, activist Drew Pavlou, said: ‘This is a dog whistle, the headband is a joke about chocolate milk, but it’s designed to look exactly like the green headbands worn by Hamas fighters.’
Ms Thorpe posted two replies to Mr Pavlou on her account before blocking him. One included three chocolate bar emojis with no text, and the second challenged him: ‘Or challenge predictable reactionaries like yourself?’
That post – which has since been deleted – appeared to fly in the face of Ms Thorpe’s original explanation that the selfie was an innocent mistake. She now claims the inflammatory response to Mr Pavlou was in fact written by a staffer.
Daily Mail Australia can also confirm that the Australian Federal Police have received a “report of a crime” regarding the photo.
Pictured: The now-deleted photo Lidia Thorpe posted to X on Tuesday afternoon
Pictured: Drew Pavlou’s response to Ms Thorpe’s controversial selfie on Tuesday. She replied with three chocolate bar emojis
There is no evidence that Ms Thorpe committed a crime, only that the selfie was passed on to the police.
In a statement on Thursday, Ms Thorpe said: ‘As I said, I was not aware of the similarity between this headband, which says ‘I love chocolate milk’, and items worn by Hamas members. When I became aware of this, I immediately took the decision to remove the post and apologised to anyone who was upset.
‘The comments from my account to the user referenced by Daily Mail Australia were not written or authorised by me, nor was I aware of those comments before they were deleted along with the original post.
“Our usual approval procedures were not followed with respect to these comments. Our office is reviewing our procedures for staff commenting on my behalf.
‘I strongly reject any suggestion that I would deliberately display a banned symbol. That is a very serious and potentially defamatory suggestion to make, which is incorrect.
“To be very clear, I do not support violence perpetrated by Hamas. And I do not advocate violence of any kind in Palestine or anywhere else. I continue to advocate for peace and a ceasefire.
‘And I repeat again: this message was meant to be a light-hearted message, with Arabic speaking people as the target audience.’
In response to her “baiting” comment, Mr Pavlou wrote: “The only reactionary here is you. Baiting people with dog whistles about supporting a terrorist group that tortures and executes Palestinian opponents.”
Another post from Lidia Thorpe’s X account suggested she uploaded the selfie to ‘bait’ her critics (pictured)
Mr Pavlou told Daily Mail Australia he was shocked that the senator appeared to retake her selfie after being confronted.
“I was one of the first to criticize her. I saw it within minutes of her posting it on her account.”
In her original statement to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Ms Thorpe explained that she had received the headband as a gift and was not aware that it resembled items of clothing worn by Hamas.
“This was meant as a lighthearted message about chocolate milk for the many Arabic-speaking people I have met and worked with in my career,” she said.
‘When I noticed that people were making a connection that was not intended at all and got angry about it, I deleted the post.
‘It was not my intention to cause any harm or upset and I apologize to those who were upset by this.
“My advocacy for Palestine is about pushing for peace and an end to the violence we see every day.”
She then called on the Australian government to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and pledged to focus on those issues.
When she first posted the photo on Tuesday, she was met with widespread criticism from X users who accused her of “dressing up” as a terrorist.
Others found the post offensive and divisive.
Ms Thorpe is an Indigenous activist who was a member of the Greens until 2023, when she became an independent and represented the Black Sovereign Movement.