October 3, 2024
Palestine group to hold Oct 7 event, regardless of court's ruling A planned pro-Palestinian vigil will go ahead on Monday for the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, despite police applying to the NSW Supreme Court to stop the event.
Protest organiser Palestinian Action Group yesterday declared that regardless of the court's decision, it would hold both a rally in the Sydney CBD on October 6 and a vigil on the steps of Town Hall on October 7.
The Daily Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that NSW Police had decided to lodge an application with the Supreme Court to stop both events from running over the two days, as authorities were not satisfied they could proceed safely.
The application was lodged yesterday afternoon and will be determined by the court at 2pm today.
Yet the Palestinian Action Group (PAG) has vowed both events would still go ahead, regardless of whether the courts found them to be unlawful.
PAG spokesman Josh Lees said the group also planned to fight the police application in the courts.
"We'll see the NSW Police in court and everyone else on the streets," a social media post from the organisers said yesterday.
Mr Lees added: "We will be protesting on Sunday 6 October regardless of any court outcome as we have done for 51 weeks, in opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the war on Lebanon.
"However, we are also confident we will win in court, as there is no basis to police's opposition to our rally."
Mr Lees said the group never needed to submit a "Form 1" application for the planned Monday night vigil and only did so to keep police informed.
"On Monday night we are just planning a small candlelight vigil to give people a chance to grieve for their lost loved ones," he said.
"We don't need a Form 1 for such an event."
NSW Premier Chris Minns said one of the reasons for police trying to stop the vigil from taking place was that large numbers of people were expected, despite the Form 1 only listing an expected crowd of 200-300 people.
Mr Minns also revealed that, during negotiations with NSW Police, the protest organisers had indicated it would be impossible to stop protesters from displaying Hezbollah flags or symbols.
"It was a difficult decision but we believe the right decision under the circumstances," Mr Minns said of applying to the Supreme Court to outlaw the events.
"We cannot have a situation where violent or illegal behaviour spills out on to the streets of Sydney for the one year anniversary.
"We saw it days after the 7th October events, down at the Opera House. It was terrible for Sydney, it inflamed community disharmony.
"The organisers of the protest weren't responsible for the actions down at the Opera House, but it gave everybody a bad name ... and I'm sorry but we have to prevent and take action to make sure we don't see a repeat of that."
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman warned that if both pro-Palestinian events went ahead despite the gatherings being potentially prohibited, police would need to be prepared to have a strong response.
"No one is above the law in our democracy," Mr Speakman said. "The Premier and Police Minister must work with the Police Commissioner to ensure the police have every resource and authority to stop any illegal conduct."
When asked what safety provisions were in place for the Sunday and Monday events, a NSW Police spokesperson said they could not comment until the court made its decision.
Anthony Albanese also backed the NSW Police push to try and stop the events, saying yesterday he would encourage pro-Palestine groups across the country to show "appropriate moderation".
"I understand that for many Australians with family, be it in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or in Lebanon, this is a very difficult time," the Prime Minister said.
"It's not a time to raise temperature."
Mr Albanese said rallies on October 7 would "cause a great deal of distress".
"Because it would be seen, I think, as incredibly provocative," he said. "It would not advance any cause."
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said October 7 rallies should not be happening anywhere in Australia.
"It reflects very badly on the organisers of these rallies that they're even contemplating organising something on the anniversary of the 7th of October," Senator Paterson said yesterday.
"The 7th of October is the day in which Hamas stormed into Israel, killed 1200 men, women and children, and captured 250 more and took them hostage back into Gaza."
"There was no Israeli Defence Force response on the 7th of October ... That came many days later."
Mr Paterson said the only reasons for pro-Palestinian organisers to do anything on the anniversary was to either "take advantage of the misery and the upset feelings of the Jewish community in Australia" or to "celebrate what happened on the 7th of October".
