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22-03-2026
By SJA Jafri + Agencies
SYDNEY: Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke were heckled by some worshippers at one of Australia’s largest mosques, with some booing and one shouting “genocide supporters” before the prime minister made a quick exit.
The prime minister and the home affairs minister were at Lakemba mosque in Sydney’s west on Friday morning before celebrations for the end of Ramadan, one of the most sacred dates in the Islamic faith.
Albanese was sat at the front of the mosque, listening to the Lebanese Muslim Association secretary, Gamel Kheir, reading out a statement panning Australia’s involvement in the Middle East war and the impacts it has had on the Muslim community, when some worshippers began to protest against his and Burke’s attendance.
Some were heard yelling phrases including “disgrace”, “shame” and “genocide supporters”. One man who booed Albanese was led out by police. He was released without charge after being given a move-on direction.
Albanese made a hasty exit, avoiding a large crowd waiting for him on the mosque’s steps.
The Lebanese Muslim Association defended its decision to host Albanese at the mosque, saying the prime minister’s attendance was not a “betrayal” of its position on Gaza and Lebanon. “We are aware of the reaction to the prime minister’s attendance and we understand that emotions are high, particularly given the ongoing suffering in Gaza and the devastation in Lebanon,” it said in a statement. “These are not distant issues for our community. They are deeply personal, and they shape how many people feel in this moment “but we also need to be clear. Choosing to engage with the elected leadership of this country is not a betrayal of those concerns. It is how we give them a voice. Walking away from engagement has not advanced our community, nor has it changed outcomes overseas. It has not reduced Islamophobia here, and it has not strengthened our ability to influence decisions that affect us.”
“When leaders enter our mosque, they do so in the presence of a community that is informed, engaged and unafraid to speak plainly. We do not open our doors for appearances. We do so because real conversations require access, and because our community deserves to be heard directly, not spoken about from a distance.”
The association wrote that its “position on Gaza and Lebanon is clear and unchanged”.
“We continue to stand with those suffering, to call for justice, and to advocate for an end to violence and the protection of innocent lives,” the statement said. “Engaging with government does not weaken that position. It strengthens our ability to express where it matters the most.”
It comes as Israel carries out air and artillery strikes in Lebanon and pushes on with a ground invasion in a campaign against Hezbollah. Israel’s assault on Lebanon has killed at least 912 people, including 111 children, and wounded 2,221 others, per the Lebanese health ministry, with more than a million people displaced.
The federal government last week announced it would send a specialist surveillance aircraft and stocks of air-to-air missiles to the UAE to protect Australians in the Gulf state, which has been targeted by Tehran in retaliation for the US and Israel’s bombings of Iran.
“A security guard was seen tackling one heckler to the ground before escorting him away.”
Protesters also turned out in February, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited at Albanese’s invitation to express solidarity with Jewish Australians allegedly targeted by gunmen inspired by Islamic State during the Bondi attack.
