The Australian War Memorial in Canberra was vandalized with Pro-Palestinian slogans on Friday before dawn, according to Australian Capital Territory Policing and the Returned and Services League of Australia.Canberra police said that closed-circuit television images showed that a masked man in a black sweater and khaki pants had allegedly spray-painted three areas at the memorial with graffiti.ACT Policing was seeking the public’s assistance to identify the man who was suspected of committing the criminal act and resulting damage.
'Disgusting and deplorable'
“Police are very disappointed this morning to see a national institution, which holds a special significance to many, being vandalized,” acting inspector Lisa Broomhall said in a police statement. “We would like to remind the community that while peaceful protest is part of a healthy democracy, criminal acts will not be tolerated.”
RSL Australia, which advocates for medical services and other needs on behalf of Australian service people, condemned the vandalism in a Friday statement and called for the perpetrators to be apprehended so that they may face the full force of the law.“The vandal did not even have the courage to be identified and the painting of the slogans on the memorial is appalling,” the RSL National President Greg Melick said. “People are entitled to protest, but the defilement of a memorial to those who served, suffered, and died in the service of the Australian nation and to protect the freedoms and way of life of all Australians is disgusting and is to be deplored.”Melick also said that many Australians are likely appalled by the action. Further, not only does it not advance the anti-Israel activist’s cause, but results in a significant loss in support for said cause, he noted.“The brave Australians who have served and died serving our country in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations over the past century or more had nothing to do with the current conflict in Gaza or the situation confronting Palestinians, and to use our national war memorial as a platform to protest is contemptible,” Melick pressed. “The desecration of the Australian War Memorial does nothing to enhance the cause of those suffering in the Middle East and it offended not only veterans and service personnel, but all fair-minded and freedom-loving Australians.”
The Australian Jewish Association on Friday accused anti-Israel activists of hating Australia.