A few days ago, I wrote about Alex Pearce, the captain of Australian Football League (AFL) team the Fremantle Dockers, who had posted to his Instagram stories anti-Israel posts by Irish hip hop trio Kneecap. Besides accusing Israel of fabricated things like genocide, Kneecap have been outed as pro-Hamas and pro-Hizbullah, and have wished death on Tories. Yet Pearce has not apologized for his posts.
Pearce’s team, the Dockers, have also been silent, not to mention the Australian Football League, to whom some in the media (and yours truly) have reached out to for comments.
The Australian Football League’s silence on this matter is particularly vexing given how “anti-racism” they have positioned themselves to be. For instance, in 2021 Tex Walker of the Adelaide Crows was overheard using a racist slur in a private conversation. He unreservedly apologised, and the AFL imposed a 6-week suspension and a $20,000 fine on him. And late last year, the AFL handed one of their umpires a suspension after admitting to dressing up as notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden at a grand final week function.
Yet absolute silence from the AFL here.
And it might even be worse than mere silence. My friend R recounted to me how he was listening to Melbourne radio station 3AW before yesterday’s game and a caller rang in to ask why the AFL hadn’t stepped in with regard to Pearce’s posts. R told me the caller was summarily cut off by ex-player-cum-commentator Jimmy Bartel, who continued on to another caller, and they discussed some other controversial issue presumably not involving Jews.
And it seems from this tweet by another AFL fan that radio station SEN has implemented the same policy:
One of the only voices I have heard condemn Pearce (and the AFL’s handling of the issue) – besides Jewish journalist Ralph Horowitz – have been ex-players-cum-podcasters Sam Newman and Wayne Carey, who had this to say on the latest episode of their podcast:
Silence from the @AFL & @freodockers regarding Freo capt Alex Pearce posting in support of pro-terrorist band Kneecap. At same time, @Origsmartassam, unfairly maligned as antisemitic b/c he interviewed Neo Nazis (to tear them a new one), has been one of only voices to speak up… pic.twitter.com/I5GltbPM1A
— David Lange (@Israellycool) May 2, 2025
I should point out that Sam was recently unfairly maligned by some as antisemitic because he interviewed a couple of Australian Neo Nazis. The fact he did so in order to put them in the hot seat (he has made clear he detests their views) seemed lost on these critics. And now we have him here (with fellow ex-player Wayne Carey) speaking out about the AFL’s hypocrisy when it comes to Jews.
Meanwhile, I will continue to pressure both the AFL and the Fremantle Dockers. Feel free to join me.
We urgently need your support to continue our impactful work. To donate, please click on the below:
