A young nail technician accused of displaying a terrorist organization’s flag during a pro-Palestinian protest has lashed out, but has yet to give a public explanation for what she was allegedly doing with the Hezbollah insignia.
Sarah Mouhanna, 19, found herself at the center of controversy last week when she was arrested by police and accused of displaying the symbol of a banned terrorist organization at a rally in Sydney following Israel’s land invasion.
Mouhanna, believed to be the first person to be charged under Australia’s new laws on banned symbols, handed herself in to New South Wales police after detectives launched a public appeal for her to be identified.
He was released on bail pending a court date later this month and has returned to his three-day-a-week job at a salon in Sydney’s south.
Daily Mail Australia approached Mouhanna after she gave a client a manicure on Thursday, only to receive a vicious tirade from her and her boss, Tahilia Adonokakis.
‘This is my job! “This is where I work,” Mrs. Mouhanna snapped.
Sarah Mouhanna, 19, works as a nail technician three days a week and lashed out when Daily Mail Australia approached her seeking an explanation for the charge against her this week.
Mouhanna vaped while giving a client a manicure Thursday morning.
Mrs Adonakis shouted in support: “Get out of my classroom, if you don’t leave I will call the police.”
Mouhanna’s sighting comes days after the young teenager was seen leaving her family’s luxurious seven-bedroom home in Arncliffe, carrying a $2,970 Louis Vuitton bag and $1,190 Christian Dior sandals.
The teen then got behind the wheel of a $165,000 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class pickup truck and drove a short distance to a friend’s house in nearby Rockdale.
Mouhanna was one of 30,000 people who attended a mass protest in Sydney on September 29 in support of Palestine and Lebanon, as the situation in the Middle East spirals out of control a year after the October 7 Hamas attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead.
At protests in both Sydney and Melbourne, people were seen waving the yellow flag of Hezbollah, which has been listed as a terrorist organization in Australia since 2001, as well as photographs of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah.
‘This is my job! “This is where I work,” snapped Ms Mouhanna, when approached by the Mail this week.
Salon owner Tahlia Andonakis (pictured with Ms Mouhanna) demanded the Daily Mail Australia reporter leave the salon.
The 19-year-old is no stranger to the finer things in life, and on Tuesday he stepped out in designer accessories and drove a $165,000 Mercedes.
Protests continued over the weekend and into Monday, the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during last year’s conflict.
Tensions have risen further after Israel killed Nasrallah in an airstrike, launched a ground invasion and decapitated the group’s leadership structure with booby-trapped pagers.
NSW Police released photographs of Sarag Mouhanna (above) as part of their investigation into the public order incident in Sydney last month.
Before Mouhanna’s arrest, Liberal senator James Patterson said the sight of Hezbollah flags at the September 29 demonstrations in Melbourne and Sydney was “disturbing” given Australia designates the group as a terrorist organization.
‘This is a clear contravention of section 80.2HA of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. “It’s time for the police to enforce the law,” he tweeted.
The display of flags representing a listed terrorist organization is a prohibited offense if it is deemed to incite hatred and violence towards other groups, and was widely condemned by politicians, police and Jewish organisations.
AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw described the display of Hezbollah flags as “un-Australian” and an offense under federal law.
“If they fly these flags, particularly those of Hezbollah and Hamas, action will be taken,” said Commissioner Kershaw.
