October 7, 2024
Pro-Palestinian protesters defied police demands to avoid Hezbollah imagery as they marched through the streets of Sydney and Melbourne in a show of force a day before the anniversary of the massacre of more than 1000 Israelis last year.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and NSW Premier Chris Minns called for activists to abandon their protests today, saying the events ''lack compassion'' and are ''deeply inappropriate'' on the anniversary of the attacks.
The protests have grown as the conict in the Middle East has intensified, leaving supporters of Israel and Palestine in Australia more divided than ever. In Melbourne, a march of more than 10,000 people yesterday in support of Palestine included signs condemning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Some protesters held up Palestinian ags; others had the Lebanese ag.
A few hoisted banners with similar colours to the Hezbollah ag but without the terrorist organisation's official symbol. Police had charged a woman after she allegedly displayed a Hezbollah ag last week. Others held up signs depicting Iranian leaders. A 56-year-old man was arrested in Sydney for ying an Israeli ag with the Star of David replaced by a swastika.
The Jewish community held its own event in Melbourne's Southbank, and a candlelight ceremony hosted by Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon in Sydney.
Vigils for the Jewish community in Melbourne and Sydney are also scheduled for today.
Pro-Palestinian protesters are planning an unauthorised event in Sydney today. Another event is planned in Lakemba, in the city's south-west, which has been organised by Stand for Palestine, a group associated with extremist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Assistant NSW police commissioner Peter McKenna said protest organisers Continued p11
From page 1 Protesters circumvent rule on Hezbollah ag had ''agreed [to] no Hezbollah ags or [portraits of deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah]". It was not illegal to display portraits of Nasrallah, who died in an Israeli airstrike late last month, but it was still offensive, he said.
Mr McKenna said police had no plans to arrest protesters holding ags similar in appearance to Hezbollah material. ''We do get legal advice around that, and the legal advice we've received at the moment is that that would not fulfil an offence,'' he said. The pro-Palestinian event planned for today had not been authorised by police but could proceed if it was not large, and did not disrupt others, he said.
''The fact of the matter is we would give the same messaging. If you come along and do the right thing, don't commit offences, don't obstruct people, don't obstruct roadways ... there'll be no need for us to intercede.''
Labor and Coalition politicians have raised concerns about the marches planned today, the 12-month anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli civilians that left more than 1000 people dead after militants stormed into towns, cities and military bases, killing and abducting civilians.
Those attacks led to a significant escalation in the conict between Israel and Hamas, with a ground invasion of Gaza that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead and many more with little access to food. The conict is threatening to become a regional war, with Israel and Iran, a sponsor of both Hamas and Hezbollah, firing missiles at each other.
''We're not saying that you can't protest for the Palestinian cause. We're just saying, pick any other day of the year than the seventh of October,'' James Paterson, the Coalition's home affairs spokesman, told Sky News.
Senator Paterson said Mr Albanese should have ''used the relationships and the status of the office of prime minister that he holds to say this is utterly unacceptable, and it must not proceed''. Mr Albanese has previously said that the pro-Palestinian protest on October 7 should be called off.
Ms Allan, the Victorian premier, said it was ''deeply inappropriate'' to be holding the protest the day before the first anniversary of the attack.
''There is a right to peacefully protest ... but with that right comes a responsibility to do so respectfully and understand what grief and trauma is being experienced by others in our community,'' she said.
Mr Minns said the timing of the demonstration lacked ''compassion'' and there was a high prospect of violence when tensions were high.
''Most people would agree that we're not going to do much about Middle Eastern violence from Sydney, and we have to do everything we possibly can to prevent that kind of violence in Sydney,'' the NSW premier said.
