- Authorities on high alert on Monday
- Pro-Palestine rally to be held in Sydney
Authorities are on high alert with two pro-Palestinian events scheduled to highlight the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.
Hamas terrorists invaded the Jewish state and massacred 1,200 Israelis last year and pro-Palestine protesters have planned a vigil at Sydney Town Hall on Monday and a rally at Lakemba Mosque to mark the day, despite condemnation of elected officials and Jewish community groups.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called Monday’s protests “extremely insensitive.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate, that’s my personal opinion,” he said.
“To organize a protest or a demonstration on a day when people were massacred on the other side of the world is, in my opinion, tremendously insensitive.”
Meanwhile, New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police would attend both events and expressed concern the protests could escalate into something larger.
“We can’t rule that out; we would always be concerned about intruders and people coming in for the wrong reason,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna, speaking ahead of Sunday’s massive pro-Palestine demonstrations across the country, said police would arrest protesters who broke the law.
Authorities are on high alert with two pro-Palestinian events scheduled to highlight the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7.
“If we see that there are public safety issues, if people want to commit a crime or significant anti-social behaviour… we will not tolerate it (and) we will not hesitate to act,” he said.
In Australia it is illegal to display symbols related to a terrorist organization or display Nazi symbols such as the swastika.
Palestinian protests are facing increased scrutiny after flags of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and framed photographs of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah began appearing at demonstrations last weekend.
The Sydney Palestine Action Group has asked its supporters to refrain from displaying terrorist symbols, but only as a tactical measure to prevent police from breaking up demonstrations.
“We urge rally attendees not to bring flags, symbols or printed representations that may be considered illegal due to their association with terrorist groups banned under Australian law,” the group said on Sunday.
‘We do not agree with these laws or the way they are applied and have pointed out the hypocritical way in which this issue has been discussed by politicians and the media who are busy supporting the terrorist state of Israel.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have planned a vigil at Sydney Town Hall on Monday and a rally at Lakemba Mosque to mark the day.
‘But we don’t want people to get into potentially serious legal trouble, give the police any reason to make arrests at the demonstration, or prevent us from holding future protests. Please help the protest organizers and bailiffs by not bringing these items.’
Minns also said police would act on any defamation of the Jewish community.
‘We cannot allow a situation where permissive anti-Semitism creeps into public dialogue because a certain group in our community believes that type of racism is okay. It’s not right,’ he said.
“I want to be clear that if there is any infringement in the protests, public sermons or speeches this weekend, they will be met with very strict laws in Australia and New South Wales regarding hate speech.”