News.com.au
Jerry Seinfeld has brutally shut down yet another group of anti-Israel hecklers at his Melbourne show, the latest in a series of disruptions during the legendary American comedian’s Australian tour.
Seinfeld was performing in front of thousands of fans at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night when, towards the end of his set, a group of anti-Israel protesters began chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The 70-year-old — who is widely considered one of the best stand-up comedians of all time — immediately mocked the group for having paid to attend his show.
“I think you need to go back and tell whoever is running your organization, ‘We just gave more money to a Jew,’” he said as the crowd erupted with laughter.
“That cannot be a good plan for you. You gotta come up with a better plan.”
The protesters were escorted out of the arena by police.
Around a dozen anti-Israel protesters were seen earlier in the night outside the venue holding signs reading “F**k Jerry Seinfeld”.
The latest interruption came after similar incidents at Seinfeld’s shows in Sydney and Adelaide.
Footage from his Adelaide appearance on Tuesday showed two men disrupting the show, standing up and yelling at Seinfeld, with the audience booing their behavior.
In the footage, one of the men can be heard yelling “shame on you”, before calling Seinfeld a “hack” and a “fraud”.
Both men then held up the Palestinian flag before one started yelling, “Free Palestine.”
The comedian snapped back at the protesters, before they were removed by security.
“You have strong political feelings but you don’t know where to say them,” he said.
“You think that ruining the night … it doesn’t affect me … all these people, you’re ruining their night.”
Seinfeld’s earlier two shows in Sydney were also both interrupted by protesters.
“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen,“ he joked to the crowd after a heckler yelled ”free Palestine” during his second Sydney gig at Qudos Bank Arena last week.
“He solved the Middle East. He solved it. It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to get. They’re the ones doing everything.”
Despite the constant disruptions to his shows, Seinfeld maintained that Australia is “the best place to be a comedian” while urging hecklers to “go where things are political” if they want to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Speaking to 7News on Thursday in Brisbane — where there were no interruptions — Seinfeld insisted, “I love Australia, of course”.
“It’s just the best place to be a comedian,“ he said.
“Australia’s comedy heaven. We’re having the time of our life. I’m having such a good time.”
Seinfeld said his favorite thing about Australia was “the people”.
“The people love to laugh, and they’re so nice,“ he said.
“There’s just a warm feeling in every show that I love.”
He again encouraged audiences to be respectful of others and keep politics out of his shows.
“I don’t care what your politics are, but go where things are political,” he said.
“This is where we go to, kind of, forget about politics. We all want to forget about it for a couple of hours. That’s the whole idea of the show. Forget about everything for a couple of hours.”
Seinfeld has previously said he will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people.
He made a solidarity visit to the country late last year and met with families of victims still being held hostage by Hamas.
The deadliest-ever Gaza war began with an unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel.
That attack resulted in the deaths of 1194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,551 people, also primarily civilians, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday.
Months of negotiations towards a Gaza truce and hostage release have failed to make headway, but mediator Qatar on Friday said it was still working to “bridge the gap” between Israel and Hamas.
This post was originally posted by NYPost
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