GREENS COUNCILLOR UNDER FIRE FOR WEARING PRO-PALESTINE HEADDRESS
A NSW Greens councillor has been accused of politicising an Anzac Day dawn service after showing up in a pro-Palestinian traditional Arab headdress.
Rafaela Pandolfini lay a bouquet of flowers at a moving service in Coogee in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Thursday morning while wearing a keffiyeh.
The keffiyeh has recently become a symbol of support for Palestine amid the conflict in the Middle East.
Many on social media took aim at Ms Pandolfini over the fashion choice, including the Australian Jewish Association.
'Disappointed to see that a Greens Randwick councillor couldn't help herself and had to politicise the Coogee dawn service by wearing one of the keffiyehs worn by the radical protesters and terrorists,' the organisation said on X.
Another commented: 'That would be a huge insult to the Anzacs and Light Horse'.
It's not the first time Ms Pandolfini has chosen to wear the pro-Palestinian statement piece.
In March last year, she wore a keffiyeh to the Randwick City Council's women's art exhibition - leaving a local Jewish artist 'shocked' and feeling 'threatened'.
ADVANCE executive director Matthew Sheahan told Daily Mail Australia Anzac Day should be 'off-limits for the Greens and their hard-core political activism.'
'Wearing the Keffiyeh to our most sacred ceremony was a deliberate act to strike at the heart of what binds our country together,' he said.
'It is an insult to every man and woman who has served in defence of our nation.
'The truth is that the Greens treat even our most sacred day as just another political opportunity to push their unwanted ideas on ordinary Australians.
'This councillor, and anyone wearing a keffiyeh should be banned from Anzac Day ceremonies.'
The Anzac memory goes back more than a century in the State of Israel.
An Anzac Memorial dedicated to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers killed in Palestine during the First and Second Battle of Gaza (1917) in World War I is located in Negev, southern Israel.
In 2018, the forest surrounding the monument was severely damaged by an incendiary kite sent by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Pandolfini for comment.
It comes as activist groups are planning to camp with sleeping bags and tents at the University of Melbourne on Anzac Day whilst demanding the institution 'cut all weapons ties' and 'stops accepting blood money'.
It is also believed the groups might protest at other Melbourne CBD locations on Thursday.
Writing on social media, the group Unimelb for Palestine wrote: 'Support the encampment, Anzac Day Our Way. Solidarity with Gaza.'
Protesters will also be asking the university to condemn what it believes to be 'the zionist regime's systematic destruction of every university in Gaza and the targeted killing of Palestinian academics and students'.
RSL Victoria President Dr Robert Webster told the Herald Sun the planned protests on Anzac Day were 'disrespectful'.
'I have no issue with them having peaceful demonstrations, but what comes along with that is the right to respect other people. They're choosing to disrespect the veterans of this country who treat [Thursday] as our national day, that to me is the issue,' he said.
Dr Webster said he wanted to make sure both the dawn services and Anzac marches were safe for everyone, and is worried protests will upset veterans if it interrupts 'their day'.
Likewise, Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Victoria president Bob Elworthy believes the national day should be 'left alone'.
'Anzac Day is not about glorifying war, we're paying respect to those who put themselves in harm's way so that people can protest,' he told the publication.
Mr Elworthy said although people have the right to protest, he didn't respect them doing it on April 25.
War veteran Lucas Moon agreed that protestors should pick a 'better day' but hopes if they do go ahead and protest, it is peaceful and not disruptive to the Anzac day festivities.
University of Melbourne Provost Professor Nicola Phillips said she was aware a small group of students would be protesting at its Parkville campus.
She said the university doesn't support the expression of freedom of speech if it undermines people to 'participate fully in the university'.
However she said freedom of speech is valued at the university.
Victoria Police said they were aware of at least three planned protests over Melbourne on Thursday and have increased patrols for several locations, including the University of Melbourne in Parkville.
Teachers and School Staff for Palestine Victoria who are the organisers behind some of the protests said they would not disrupt any Anzac day services.
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