Unless security finds a way to weed out from the audience anyone likely to try to follow the pro-Palestinian heckler who interrupted the Jewish American comedian’s first Sydney show, that is.
In true comedic tradition, Seinfeld mocked the man who dared to turn his show into a forum for a political anti-Israel protest at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday evening.
Seinfeld has become an unlikely, occasional lightning rod amid the Israel-Hamas war. He made headlines in May when his commencement address at Duke University was interrupted by pro-Palestine students.
Seinfeld visited Israel following the October 7 terrorist attacks and has expressed support since.
A video shared by the Australian Jewish Association from Seinfeld’s performance on Sunday evening shows the altercation between the pro-Palestine heckler and Seinfeld.
“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen, he solved the Middle East,” Seinfeld said, as a man in the crowd yelled, inaudibly in the video.
The crowd laughed after booing the heckler.
“It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to get – they’re the ones doing everything!” Seinfeld said mockingly.
“Go ahead, keep going. They’re going to start punching you in about three seconds so I would try to get all of your genius out so we can all learn from you.
“It’s a comedy show, you moron, get out of here.”
Security personnel can then be seen escorting two people down an aisle. One of them is yelling, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” while the other looks to be filming on their phone.
Amid this, Seinfeld remarked : “You’re really influencing everyone here. We’re all on your side now because you’ve made your point so well. And in the right venue. You’ve come to the right place for a political conversation,” he said. “Tomorrow we will read in the paper ‘Middle East 100 per cent solved thanks to man at the Qudos Arena stopping Jew comedian, they stopped him, and everyone in the Middle East went ‘Oh my god, let’s just get along, we can’t do that’.
“I know there are problems here with Indigenous Aboriginal people and the white … and maybe to solve that, I will screw up Jim Jefferies in a show in New York. If this works, that will work. You have to go 20,000 miles from the problem and screw up a comedian, that is how you solve world issues.”
