Melbourne gallery displays Hamas symbol

A Melbourne art gallery is displaying a huge Hamas symbol as part of an exhibition that claims to respond to “the charged events that have erupted over the last nine months in historic Palestine”.

The exhibition called The Cave, The Flood features a massive red LED floodlight on a wooden frame in a direct reference to the symbol adopted by the terror group.

Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia.

The exhibition was created by visual artist and RMIT visual arts academic Leslie Eastman and is displayed at Hayden’s gallery in East Melbourne.   

Neither Eastman nor the gallery’s director Hayden Stuart has responded to requests from The Jewish Independent for comment but the artist’s statement on the exhibition says it explores the cave and rock beneath the Dome of the Rock, at Al Aqsa, al Quds/Jerusalem.

“The Cave, The Flood is a response to the complex history and meanings of this charged geological and spiritual pivot point, considering it from both religious and political perspectives. So much is clouded in Western reportage. So little of the context is appreciated by Western eyes,” the statement read.

A red triangle is a relatively recent symbol used by Hamas since October 7, deriving from combat footage published by Hamas’ Al-Qassam brigade, which shows a red triangle used to indicate Israeli military targets such as tanks just before they are struck. Usage of the triangle has spread to the international war-related protests.