ADC asks AFP to investigate Melbourne Airport incident
An Israeli-Australian family says it was subjected to repeated antisemitic abuse at Melbourne Airport’s international departures terminal on 24th August 2026, and the Anti-Defamation Commission is calling for an AFP investigation.
According to accounts the family gave the Anti-Defamation Commission, the incidents happened between about 3.30 pm and 4.15 pm as the extended family travelled to a flight to Israel after a family celebration in Melbourne.
The group said an unknown woman first approached a father wearing a yarmulke near the T2 International Departures entrance while he was walking towards security with his 11-year-old daughter. The family said the woman shouted, “Oh, you’re a Zionist!” and then, “You’re a Zionist! Stop killing babies! You’re a baby killer and a Zionist pig!”
Family says abuse continued through terminal
The family said the same woman then targeted a second family member at the security checkpoint, where a mother was carrying her one-year-old son in a baby carrier and her husband was beside her holding their four-year-old daughter, also in a yarmulke. According to the family’s account, the woman shouted “baby killer,” “Zionist Nazi,” “Zionist pig,” “genocidal” and “you kill babies”.
A further incident was reported near the departure gate at St Ali café, where one of the men said the woman yelled across the venue, “Hey, look, there’s the Zionist baby killer!”
Airport security officers intervened, moved the family to a separate screening area, helped with their bags and apologised, according to the Anti-Defamation Commission. The family did not make a formal report at the time, but the commission said both families are willing to speak to the AFP and lodge a complaint.
Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dr Dvir Abramovich said, “The AFP must investigate this now.”
