Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke visited Lakemba Mosque in Sydney overnight Thursday for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. During the visit, a disturbance broke out as worshippers jeered the two, booed, shouted “Allahu akbar,” demanded they leave and called them “genocide supporters,” citing the government’s backing of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Video from the mosque showed protesters shouting at Albanese and Burke, while one attendee tried to calm the situation. A security guard was seen tackling one heckler to the ground before escorting him out. Another worshipper urged the crowd to sit and stop filming. “Dear brothers and sisters, keep calm a little bit,” he said. “It is Eid. It is a joyful day.”
Despite the incident — and as protesters shouted “Shame on you!” while the officials left — Albanese later described the visit as “incredibly positive.”
“If you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000, that should be put in that perspective,” he told reporters, adding that members of the Muslim community helped address the disruption.
He said some of the frustration stemmed from the government’s recent decision to designate the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir as a banned hate organization, under legislation advanced after a deadly attack on the Jewish community in Sydney’s Bondi area.
5 View gallery
Albanese and Burke during the mosque visit, facing criticism from both sides
(Photo: Hollie Adams/Reuters)
Albanese has faced criticism from both sides. Following the attack, in which 14 people were killed, Australia’s Jewish community voiced anger over the government’s handling of rising antisemitism since the October 7 attacks and the war in Gaza. At the same time, some in both the Muslim and Jewish communities have criticized the government’s balancing act — expressing concern for Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire while also supporting Israel’s right to self-defense.
Last month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Australia at Albanese’s invitation to show solidarity with the country’s Jewish community. Protests were also held during that visit, including a large rally in Sydney where 27 demonstrators were arrested after clashing with police.