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Australian City Council Pulls Funding for Local Music Awards After Anti-Israel Song ‘River to Sea’ Wins Top Honor
Anti-Israel protesters hold a banner that says, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” standing in front of the president’s palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Nov. 5, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/Marek Antoni Iwanczuk via Reuters Connect
The Brisbane City Council (BCC) in Australia pulled funding for the Queensland Music Awards (QMAs) on Thursday effective immediately in response to a controversial anti-Israel song titled “River to Sea” that won an award at the annual ceremony this week.
The BCC also revoked funding for the QMAs after jazz pianist-composer Kellee Green, who won the award for “River to Sea,” made a series of antisemitic and anti-Israel comments in her acceptance speech at this year’s award ceremony on Tuesday night.
Established in 2006, the QMAs celebrate emerging artists based in Queensland, located in northeastern Australia.
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner made the announcement about withdrawing funds for the QMAs in a released statement on Thursday. “The promotion of antisemitism at Tuesday night’s Queensland Music Awards was utterly shameful and divisive,” he said.
“The decision to hand a major prize to an offensively titled anti-Jewish song raises serious questions about whether the awards have been hijacked by extremists,” Schrinner added. “Allowing such vile hate speech to occur shows the awards seem to be no longer capable of achieving their own stated goal to ‘promote diversity and inclusion.’ As a result, we will be immediately withdrawing our funding and support for these awards. I want Brisbane to be a safe and inclusive destination for everyone and the kind of divisive and offensive actions on display at last night’s awards have no place in our city.”
At the 2025 QMAs on Tuesday night, Green won the jazz award for her instrumental piece “River to Sea,” which has no vocals or lyrics. The title of the song is a nod to the anti-Israel slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is widely recognized as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state — located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea — and for it to be replaced with “Palestine.” Green wore to the QMAs an outfit that boldly featured the colors of the Palestinian flag.
During her acceptance speech at the event, held at Fortitude Music Hall, Green talked about her inspiration for “River to Sea.” At the same time, she accused Israel of “76 years of genocide against the people of Palestine,” and alleged that the Australian government has participated in war crimes for supporting Israel, as the Jewish state continues to fight Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip who perpetrated the deadly terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Green also claimed the government of Australia “supports the mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of an entire race of people.”
“I can’t accept this award for this piece without acknowledging the reason for its creation,” Green said. “Our own government is complicit in war crimes by supporting Israel both in words and actions, by allowing the export of weapons and weapon parts to Israel to directly kill innocent Palestinian men, women, and children. I urge you to please educate yourselves about this ongoing genocide and take action by protesting, contacting MPs — some of whom are here tonight — and boycotting where you can so this government knows that these war crimes are occurring without our consent and not in our name.” Her comments elicited loud applause from the audience.
“‘Never Again’ means never again for anybody,” she added, referencing the phrase most notably used in association with the Holocaust and efforts to never forget the genocide that took place during World War II. Green ended the speech by proclaiming, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The phrase has been previously condemned by the Australian Senate, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong labeled it as “hate speech,” and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the use of the anti-Israel slogan has “no place in Australia.”
Green’s acceptance speech was denounced by Queensland Holocaust Museum Chairman Jason Steinberg, who is also president of the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies. The pro-Israel organization called on organizers of the QMAs to revoke Green’s award. Green deactivated all her social media accounts following the controversy this week.
Kris Stewart, CEO of QMusic, which are producers of the annual awards ceremony, said in a statement on Thursday that he is “deeply saddened” by BCC’s decision to pull funding for the show. He explained that the QMAs are judged by more than 100 music industry professionals from across the country and, “to ensure a fair and transparent process,” they are only provided with a song title, artist name, and audio recording.
“No additional context or background information about the artist or song is shared,” he added. “While we recognize that this phrase [‘River to Sea’] carries political connotations, the title did not stand out as divisive within the volume of songs received. We acknowledge the sensitive nature of this moment and the impact it has had on some members of our community. We do not wish for the Queensland Music Awards to be a platform for political debate. The intention of the event is, and always has been, to celebrate the work of our state’s artists and industry.”
Stewart noted that QMusic is open to meeting with members of the BCC to further discuss the incident and “explore a constructive and positive path forward — one that continues to uphold the value of the arts and the importance of supporting Queensland artists.”
“We have heard and acknowledge the feedback shared by members of the community in recent days,” he further stated. “As custodians of the QMAs, we remain committed to learning from this experience and ensuring the integrity and purpose of the awards are upheld.”
The QMAs are also supported by the Queensland Government and the federal government.
The post Australian City Council Pulls Funding for Local Music Awards After Anti-Israel Song ‘River to Sea’ Wins Top Honor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Data: Nearly 90 Percent of Gaza Aid ‘Intercepted’ Before Reaching Intended Recipients
Palestinians collect aid supplies from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
The vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients, newly released data from the United Nations shows, fueling growing concerns among Israeli officials and international observers about systemic aid diversion by armed groups in the enclave.
According to figures tracking humanitarian assistance for Gaza from May 19 to Aug. 1 of this year, out of the 2,010 UN trucks (carrying 27,434 tons of aid) collected from any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter, only 260 trucks (4,111 tons) reached their intended destination. That equates to a staggering 87 percent of all trucks and 85 percent of all tonnage of aid being stolen and not getting into the hands of civilians at the intended destination.
The UN’s own data, posted on the website of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) as part of the “UN2720 Monitoring & Tracking Dashboard,” reveals that almost all the aid — 1,753 trucks (23,353 tons) — has been “intercepted, either peacefully by hungry people or forcefully by armed actors” while being transported inside Gaza over the past few months.
No breakdown is provided of how much aid has been seized by armed groups versus civilians.
The data also shows that much of the UN aid offloaded at any of the crossings along Gaza’s perimeter has not been collected to enter the war-torn enclave during this period. Out of 40,012 tons of aid (2,134 trucks) being delivered to the crossings, just 27,434 tons (2010 trucks) have been picked up. It’s unclear what exactly led to this discrepancy, with issues such as poor internal coordination and security concerns potentially delaying aid shipments.
The UN2720 mechanism, created earlier this year, was intended to boost transparency by verifying and tracking aid shipments via QR codes at key checkpoints. The system monitors each pallet from offloading to delivery and flags any discrepancies in a centralized database.
Israel has facilitated the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, with Israeli officials condemning the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen by the ruling Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Sunday, Israel announced a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and new aid corridors as Arab and European countries began airdropping supplies into the enclave.
However, the UN and several Western governments have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, blaming the Jewish state for what they described as a hunger crisis and insufficient amounts of aid reaching civilians.
Israeli officials have said that claims of mass starvation in Gaza are false and being amplified by not only Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, but also international humanitarian organizations and media organizations to manipulate global opinion.
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Dutch Nurse Under Police Investigation for Alleged Threats Against Israeli Patients
Pro-Hamas demonstrators march in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. Photo: Reuters/Romy Arroyo Fernandez
A Muslim nurse in the Netherlands is under police investigation after allegedly threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients — an incident that has sparked public outrage and intensified fears over rising antisemitism and patient safety in Europe’s health-care systems.
The comments were widely circulated by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who also exposed a recent case in Australia where two nurses were suspended for two years over antisemitic threats and remarks.
In a video shared on social media, Veifer denounced Dutch-Muslim nurse Batisma Chayat Sa’id’s remarks as a serious violation of medical ethics.
“Someone like that should be prosecuted and barred from treating patients. Imagine your grandparents being cared for by someone so hateful,” the Israeli influencer said.
Zorgwekkende dreiging op Instagram: Nederlandse verpleegkundige is bereid om “zionisten een extra spuitje te geven” en bereid “zionisten te laten sterven binnen de gezondheidszorg.” pic.twitter.com/xTnXNi1wH5
— CIDI
(@CIDI_nieuws) July 29, 2025
The incident was sparked when an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands commented on a social media post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who cautioned about what he called the country’s looming radical Islamization by 2050.
A social media account belonging to the Muslim nurse also commented on the post, claiming it would happen by 2027, to which the Israeli woman responded, “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”
“Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer,” the nurse further replied.
“You know what I’m doing with Zionists — giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting them go to heaven!” Sa’id continued.
When the Israeli woman threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss — I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”
Shortly after her posts gained widespread attention, Sa’id deleted all her social media accounts, insisting that her identity had been stolen and that she was not responsible for such comments.
On Wednesday, local police detained Sa’id for questioning, but she denied the allegations, asserting that someone had impersonated her online.
“It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” the nurse said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”
Even after announcing plans to file an identity theft complaint, she faces skepticism from authorities, who have assigned a digital forensics expert to scrutinize her online accounts.
Last year, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”
Earlier this year, two Australian nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — gained international attention after they were seen in an online video posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements during a night-shift conversation with Veifer.
The widely circulated footage, which sparked international outrage and condemnation, showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.
Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide.
They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.
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French Authorities Halt Gaza Evacuations After Palestinian Student Expelled Over Viral Antisemitic Posts
Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect
French authorities have halted evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student was expelled from the prestigious Sciences Po Lille and placed under investigation, following the viral circulation of hundreds of antisemitic posts praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and calling for the murder of Jews.
The incident drew widespread condemnation and public outrage, prompting French ministers to demand answers and call for an investigation into how the Gazan student was allowed into the country in the first place.
On Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that all further evacuations from Gaza would be suspended pending the completion of the investigation into the student’s background.
After receiving a scholarship, 25-year-old Nour Atalla, a Palestinian from Gaza, arrived in the country in early July to begin her master’s degree in law and communications this fall at the Institute of Political Science in Lille, northern France.
Barrot confirmed that discussions are ongoing about the student’s possible return to Gaza, making clear that she must leave the country pending the investigation’s outcome.
“She has no place at Sciences Po, nor in France,” the top French diplomat said.
On Thursday, local authorities reported that a criminal investigation is underway into Atalla, with the public prosecutor in Lille confirming the case was opened for “apology of terrorism, apology of crimes against humanity using an online public communication service.”
Barrot admitted lapses in the screening process that allowed her entry and has mandated a comprehensive review of everyone evacuated from Gaza to France.
“The security checks, carried out by the French services and Israeli authorities, did not detect the antisemitic content,” the French diplomat said.
Atalla is one of 292 Gazans admitted to the country following a court ruling that opened the door for Gazans to seek refugee status based on their nationality.
She was offered a place at Sciences Po Lille University based on “academic excellence” and following a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the university announced it had revoked Atalla’s enrollment after hundreds of her past antisemitic and violent social media posts went viral, sparking widespread condemnation from political leaders and members of the local Jewish community.
In several of these posts, she glorified Hitler, praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, called for the execution of Israeli hostages and the killing of Jews, and expressed support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
In one post, Atalla shared a video of Hitler giving a speech about Jews, writing, “Kill their young and their old. Show them no mercy … And kill them everywhere.”
In another post shared on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, she wrote, “We must do everything we can to match the bloodshed — as much as possible.”