‘Shame on you’: The moment Greens Senator is met by furious public, as Sky journalist forces her to face blunt questions
A member of the public has accused Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi of having “blood” on her hands, as Sky News’ Sharri Markson cornered her with a series of blunt questions regarding the Greens’ conduct on antisemitism.
Ms Faruqi attended the scene of Australia’s worst mass shooting since Port Arthur on Monday with NSW Green Abigail Boyd, after David Shoebridge laid flowers at Bondi earlier in the morning.
Father and son Sajid, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, allegedly shot at a crowd of Jewish Chanukah celebrants on Sunday evening for about five minutes, killing 15 innocent people and injuring dozens more as at Monday afternoon.
Police and intelligence have deemed the attack an act of terrorism, and the NSW government stated the mass shooting was “designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community on the first day of Hanukkah”.
Sky News’ Sharri Markson approached Senator Faruqi on Monday, asking whether she believed support for pro-Palestine protests had contributed to the political climate from which the attack may have arisen.
Markson questioned whether Ms Faruqi felt she fuelled the “antisemitism crisis by [her] aggressive rhetoric over the past two years”.
Senator Faruqi answered she was in Bondi “to mourn”.
However, a passersby could be heard interrupting the Greens Senator, saying “shame on you”.
“Bloods on your hands, shame on you,” a man said.
Markson pressed Ms Faruqi further for answers, saying pro-Palestine protests in Australia had hosted calls for death to the IDF, and “intifada”.
Markson questioned how such protests would “lead to anything else, other than the terror attack that we saw here last night”, and if Ms Faruqi regretted attending them.
“Today is about heart and humanity for those who have lost their loved ones, for those who have been injured,” Ms Faruqi said.
Ms Boyd added: “Today’s a day for grieving, not politics”.
“We shouldn’t be grieving,” Markson replied.
Markson’s questions came after Ms Faruqi became a vocal critic of Israel since the conflict in Gaza began, and a supporter of the pro-Palestine movement.
She has, in the past, called for sanctions on Israel and expressed support for Australian demonstrators.
She faced scrutiny in 2024 after posting, and quickly deleting, an image of herself and pro-Palestine university protestors, one of whom appeared to be holding a placard depicting an Israeli flag thrown into a rubbish bin with the slogan: “keep the world clean”.
More recently, Ms Faruqi was censured in the upper house in Canberra after protesting the governor general’s address to parliament by raising a Gaza protest sign in July 2025.
Senator Faruqi was, at the time, banned from taking part in overseas delegations for the remainder of the 48th parliament.
She also attended Sydney Airport with demonstrators to mark the return of several Australian sailors from humanitarian aid ships which were operating in the Mediterranean.
In September, she accused her colleagues of failing to act on far-right racism after the anti-immigration marches, attended by tens of thousands, including neo-Nazi demonstrators.
“These anti-immigration marches don’t happen in a vacuum… they cause real-world impact and real harm,” she said in parliament.
She said Coalition and Labor politicians had been “vilifying” pro-Palestinian activists while ignoring neo-Nazis.
Ms Faruqi first released a statement to social media in the hours after the attack on Sunday.
“My heart filled with dread when I saw the news this evening. I’m absolutely devastated by the horrific violence at Bondi Beach tonight. This is an appalling and unforgivable act of violence,” she wrote.
“My thoughts are especially with the Jewish community.
“My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones and those who were injured and my immense gratitude to the first responders who have risked their lives to keep our communities safe.”
