Grace Tame, the former Australian of the Year, has come under fire from Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sharren Haskel, who labeled her recent actions as “absolutely outrageous” and indicative of ignorance. This criticism arose following Tame’s participation in a protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Sydney, where she led a chant that sparked controversy.

During the protest, Tame’s rallying cry, “from Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada,” was met with strong reactions. The term “intifada,” which in Arabic signifies a “shaking off” of oppression, also has historical connotations, referring to two significant conflicts between Israel and Palestine—one in the late 1980s and another in the early 2000s—an interpretation emphasized by Haskel during her interview with Sky News’ Chris Kenny.

The protest in Sydney, which attracted thousands of participants, escalated into disorder when police intervened to prevent the crowd from approaching a Jewish event at the convention center, where President Herzog was in attendance. This intervention led to several confrontations between the demonstrators and law enforcement.

Despite the unrest in Sydney, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended a warm welcome to President Herzog in Canberra the following day, underscoring the diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel amidst the backdrop of the protests.

The protests in Sydney on Monday had turned wild when police moved to stop the crowd of thousands from marching near a Jewish event held at the convention centre attended by Herzog, sparking a number of clashes. 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warmly welcomed Herzog in Canberra against the backdrop of the protests.

Hours earlier in Parliament, Albanese has been busy dodging questions about whether he would publicly condemn the chant after fellow politician called for Tame to be stripped of her prestigious award.

Haskel said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to see the scenes in Sydney when Herzog’s visit was an attempt to comfort and unify Jewish Australians in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack on December 14.

Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel has slammed former Australian of the Year Grace Tame 

Haskel said Tame’s use of the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’ in front of thousands of Sydneysiders was ‘absolutely outrageous’ 

Tame should work harder to understand the meanings of the words she uses, Haskel argued. 

‘You know what it means to globalise the intifada? It means to bring and import the problems of the Middle East into Sydney,’ she said.

‘And when she calls to globalise the intifada, which intifada does she mean?’ Haskell said, suggesting the word also applied to the October 7 terror attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel. 

She said Australia’s Jewish community was still ‘broken to pieces’ and trying to recover in the wake of their own attack and that Tame’s words were terribly timed. 

‘They requested the President come listen to their hurt,’ Haskell said.

She accused Tame of inadvertently calling for violence and that it was ‘absolutely outrageous and every decent Australian should stand against that’.

Amidst the interview Kenny stressed that Tame had come out to clarify that her comments were not used as a rallying cry for violence. 

Despite the clarification however, both guest and host agreed Tame’s intifada chant was completely unacceptable and highly provocative.  

Nationwide protests have broken out in opposition to Israel President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia this week

Tame was one of the key speakers at Sydney’s protest where she firmly crossed the line, many politicians have claimed

In a post on Wednesday, Tame defended her use of the controversial phrase and anti-Israel rhetoric.  

The 31-year-old shared her response to the criticism in a video after sharing a written statement about coverage of the rally on Tuesday.

‘This is not the first time I’ve been made a villain for speaking out,’ Tame wrote alongside the video.

‘It is however the first time I’ve been cast in a worse light than a criminal state. In the pursuit of justice, proportion, fairness, and truth, I refuse to be silent.

Outside Town Hall on Monday, the crowd accused Herzog of engaging in ‘incitement to genocide’ and of having ‘signed his name on bombs that were used to kill innocent women and children’.

The UN Human Rights Council previously alleged a genocide was occurring in Gaza but both Herzog and Israel denied any such war crime as having been committed.

NSW Premier Chris Minns and Queensland Premier David Crisafulli have both pledged to ban the ‘infitada’ phrase.

Minns also condemned the use of the term at the rally.

Tame has defended her rhetoric and doubled down on her criticism of Israel following the backlash

Despite her speech being met with thunderous applause many significant politicians have called for Tame’s Australian of the Year award to be revoked

‘In the circumstances where six weeks ago we lost 15 members of the Jewish community to a hate crime.

‘I can only imagine what those families thought when they saw someone screaming that phrase from the steps of Town Hall, the pain they would have gone through.’

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce called for Tame to be stripped of her Australian of the Year award.

Pauline Hanson also demanded consequences, claiming Tame’s remarks were incompatible with the honour of her award.

‘The National Australia Day Council (NADC) should revoke Grace Tame’s Australian of the Year award for bringing both the award and this nation into disrepute,’ Hanson said.