During the early hours of Monday morning, the U.S. Consulate in Sydney, Australia, was attacked by vandals with pro-Palestinian sentiments. The assailants marked the building with a symbol associated with the armed wing of Hamas, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. An individual in a dark hoodie used a sledgehammer to make small holes in the consulate’s windows at 3 a.m. local time.
Additionally, red triangles were spray-painted upside-down on the front of the building, a symbol that gained popularity among pro-Palestinian activists after being used by Hamas to identify Israeli military targets in videos, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). MEMRI noted that Hamas edits the inverted red triangle to appear above Israeli targets like soldiers or tanks in its videos.
This incident follows previous attacks on the U.S. consulate in Sydney and Melbourne, where vandals spray-painted messages in support of Gaza and martyrs. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a member of the Labor Party, condemned the vandalism and called for a return to respectful political discourse, as reported by Axios.
“Measures such as painting the U.S. consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property,” he said.
The recent incident in Sydney marked the second attack on a U.S. diplomatic post this month, following a gunman opening fire outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on June 5, as reported by Axios. The motive behind the shooting remains unknown, although Lebanese media has released images of the attacker donning an Islamic State vest, according to the Associated Press.
Pro-Palestinian students in Australia have established encampments reminiscent of those seen in the United States, as per the AP. Additionally, Australian pro-Palestinian demonstrators have made efforts to blockade a port in Sydney in order to impede ships destined for Israel, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a strategy also utilized by American activists.
The State Department, responsible for overseeing U.S. embassies and consulates, has not yet responded to the re