Australian senator Lidia Thorpe was criticized on Tuesday for publishing a picture of her wearing a headband with a similar appearance to that of a Hamas headband.
The headband according to the Australian Jewish Association translated to “I like chocolate milk” in Arabic, but in similar calligraphy and green coloring to that of Hamas logos.
“I wholeheartedly support this message,” Thorpe wrote alongside the now-deleted X post. “I hope you do too!”
AJA attacked Thorpe, saying that altering the logo didn’t change the fact that her intention was to emulate a Hamas headband.
'Like dressing as a Nazi'
“This is one of the most racist and ugly acts to come from a member of Australia’s Parliament for some time. By dressing in a mock Hamas-style headband, Lidia Thorpe is mocking the victims of murder and rape on October 7,” said AJA CEO Robert Gregory. “This is the equivalent of dressing in a Nazi uniform while changing the SS letters slightly.”
DOES SEN LIDIA THORPE HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE?Here she wears a head band designed to look like that of the type worn by Hamas terrorists and their supporters. In the same Arabic style, the words are changed to mean “I like chocolate milk”.It mocks the victims of Hamas… pic.twitter.com/TS6fBtAgdr
— Australian Jewish Association (@AustralianJA) July 16, 2024
Pro-Assad Syrian-Australian commentator Maram Susli responded to Thorpe’s social media post by telling outraged pro-Israel X users “Yes Zionists, we hate you and support the people who want to dismantle your terror state. We also like chocolate.”