JNS
“To celebrate Hamas is to celebrate rape, murder and mutilation. Urging them to ‘do it again’ is to endorse barbarism," Ambassador Amir Maimon posted on X.
Israeli Ambassador Amir Maimon on Tuesday condemned what he called “abhorrent” pro-Hamas graffiti in Melbourne, Australia on the second anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
“Today, on the day that two of my family members were brutally murdered two years ago, I am appalled and shocked by the abhorrent pro-Hamas graffiti seen across Melbourne,” Maimon wrote on X.
Maimon's two relatives murdered on Oct. 7 were Maor Shalom, 46, an IDF reservist and retired Shin Bet agent, and an IDF soldier, Staff Sgt. Ido Harush, 21. Both were killed while fighting Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated into southern Israel.
“To celebrate Hamas is to celebrate rape, murder and mutilation,” he continued. “Urging them to ‘do it again’ is to endorse barbarism, to burn children and desecrate bodies.”
Maimon said such displays were not expressions of political opinion or solidarity, but rather outright support for terror. “This is not politics; it is not solidarity. Praising Hamas is praising one of the purest evils this world has to offer."
Victoria Police said they were investigating the graffiti on a billboard in Melbourne, where the words "Glory to Hamas" were painted on a billboard in the suburb of Fitzroy.
The police said the words "Oct 7, do it again" had been partially removed from a wall in the nearby neighborhood of Westgarth.
The ambassador’s remarks came amid growing concern over rising antisemitism and anti-Israel activity in Australia since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. While Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the Australian government, it joined the United Kingdom and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state in September 2025.
