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"'Zionist Nazi,' 'Baby Killer': Jewish Fathers Abused at Melbourne Airport as an 11-Year-Old Sobbed and an Infant Sat Strapped to His Mother's Chest -- ADC Demands AFP Action"

Anti-Defamation Commission

Key Facts:

• An Israeli-Australian family claims they were subjected to repeated antisemitic abuse at Melbourne Airport's international departures terminal on 24 August 2026, with a woman allegedly targeting multiple family members over the course of around an hour.
• The alleged perpetrator is said to have approached a father wearing a kippah and his 11-year-old daughter, shouting phrases including Zionist pig and baby killer, leaving the child terrified and shaking.
• The same woman allegedly continued her abuse at the security checkpoint, directing similar slurs at a mother carrying her one-year-old infant in a baby carrier, alongside her husband and four-year-old daughter, causing the mother to break down in tears.
• A further incident allegedly occurred at an airport café near the departure gate, where the woman reportedly called out Hey look, there's the Zionist baby killer! across the venue.
• The Anti-Defamation Commission has called on the Australian Federal Police to investigate the matter; airport security intervened during the incidents and both families have since indicated they are willing to speak to the AFP and lodge a formal complaint.

The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) has called on the Australian Federal Police to investigate an antisemitic abuse incident at Melbourne Airport, after an Israeli Australian family says it was repeatedly targeted while travelling through international departures.

The incident occurred on Monday 24 August 2026, between about 3.30 pm and 4.15 pm, as the extended family made its way to a flight to Israel following a family celebration in Melbourne.

According to accounts provided to the ADC by two members of the family, a father in a Yarmulke had farewelled relatives near the T2 International Departures entrance and was walking up the ramp towards security holding the hand of his eleven-year-old daughter. 

The family says an unknown woman approached, stared at his yarmulke and shouted: "Oh, you're a Zionist!" When he responded, she escalated, yelling, "You're a Zionist! Stop killing babies! You're a baby killer and a Zionist pig!" His daughter, the family told the ADC, was left terrified, shaking and crying.

Minutes later, the family says, the same woman turned on a second family from the same group at the security checkpoint which included a mother carrying her one-year-old son in a baby carrier and her husband beside her holding their four-year-old daughter, also in a yarmulke. According to the family, the woman shouted abuse including "baby killer," "Zionist Nazi," "Zionist pig," "genocidal", and "you kill babies," as the infant sat strapped to his mother's chest. The mother said she began crying uncontrollably and begged the woman to stop shouting in front of her children.

A short time later, as the family gathered near their gate, one of the men saw the same woman at St Ali café while ordering a coffee. The family says she screamed across the venue: "Hey, look, there's the Zionist baby killer!" She was seated at the back with a glass of wine, looking at her phone.

Airport security officers intervened, moved the family to a separate screening area to keep them away from the woman, assisted with their bags and apologised, asking whether they wished to make a formal report. Too distressed at the time and too close to boarding, the family did not proceed at that time. Both families have since advised the ADC that they are willing to speak to the AFP and lodge a formal complaint.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the ADC, said:

“Every Australian should feel their stomach turn. We have reached a point where a Jewish family cannot walk through Melbourne Airport without a stranger screaming that they murder children. This family came to Melbourne for joy. They left with an eleven-year-old girl shaking, a mother in tears, and that is the nightmare that was carved into the hearts of two Jewish kids.  Anti-Israel poison is out of control as 'Zionist pig.' 'Zionist Nazi.' 'Baby killer.' 'Genocidal.' 'You kill babies' has become the weapon of choice being thrown at Jews in cafes, schools, streets, workplaces and airports, meant to shame, intimidate, and threaten them. This woman stalked a Jewish family, then strolled off and then poured herself a glass of wine like she'd earned it. That glass of red is the face of Jew-hatred in Australia today, with strangers feeling licensed to spit a torrent of antisemitic hate in public.  Jewish Australians have been forced into a brutal daily choice: wear the yarmulke and brace for the abuse, or hide it and lose a piece of yourself. That daily surrender is Australia's shame. Jewish Australians are running out of ordinary places where they can simply live and breathe. The AFP must investigate this now. This woman must be found, named, and made to answer, because when an eleven-year-old Jewish girl is sobbing at an airport after hearing her father called a baby killer, then something in the soul of this nation has died, and we are watching the funeral.”

About us:

The Anti-Defamation Commission is Australia's leading civil rights organisation fighting antisemitism, Holocaut denial, neo-Nazism and all forms of hatred since 1979.

Contact details:

Dr Dvir Abramovich,

Chair, Anti-Defamation Commission