Police to trawl CCTV in hunt for anti-social pro-Palestinian Sydney Opera House protesters
Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to apologise to the Jewish community after they were warned to stay at home ahead of an unapproved pro-Palestine rally in the Sydney CBD.
NSW
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Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to apologise to the Jewish community after they were warned to stay at home ahead of a pro-Palestine rally in the Sydney CBD.
Minister Catley, addressing NSW Parliament, has also confirmed that a march from Town Hall to the steps of the Opera House was not given approval by police, who instead focused on preventing “the risk of violence and conflict”.
The Police Minister also confirmed the gathering, which started at Town Hall before moving to the Opera House where it descended into a protest including chants of ‘f-k the Jews’ and flare throwing, was a “spontaneous gathering”.
Organisers of a pro-Palestinian protest in which flares were thrown and an Israeli flag was burnt did not fill in paperwork advising police of their plans to hold a public rally.
NSW Police are often given advance notice of rallies or protests by organisers in the form of a “Notice of Intention to Hold a Public Assembly”.
But no such form was filled out for Monday night’s protest.
Government sources said the form could not be filled out because it takes seven days to process.
A government source said police made the operational decision to allow the group to march down to the Opera House in the belief that it was the safest way to manage the crowd.
POLICE TRAWL CCTV FOR PROTESTERS
Police are on the hunt for protesters who lit up flares and burnt Israeli flags during a rowdy pro-Palestine rally that descended onto the forecourt of Sydney’s iconic Opera House on Monday night.
Moments after the blue and white colours of the Israeli flag lit up the Opera House sails, members of the crowd – which had earlier marched from Town Hall – started screaming “f*ck Israel”, and “f*ck the Jews” from behind covered faces.
Items were also launched at police and fireworks erupted in nearby suburbs as hundreds of Sydneysiders celebrated the attacks conducted by Hamas in Israel on Saturday.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke said the entirety of the protest was caught on CCTV and any people who broke the law will be arrested and brought before the courts.
“However, I can tell you the entire rally and footage was covered by CCTV footage and an operation has been established to look into the issues last night and we will attempt to identify people who committed offences and will take appropriate actions to put them before the courts where it is possible.
“If anybody has any information, we would be more than happy to receive that and people can do that directly to their local police or by contacting Crime Stoppers.”
“I’m very disappointed in the strongest possible terms that people saw fit to use flares and what not,” Assistant Commissioner Cooke said on Tuesday.
He said police warned the members from the Jewish community multiple times of the risks associated with such protests.
“It was considered the best option for police was to manage the movement of those people,” he said.
“This is not about us condoning, supporting, facilitating any process … This is about us providing for the public safety.”
Meanwhile, a Sydney-based defence lawyer has offered free representation in court for anyone charged in relation to the pro-Palestinian protests.
“We understand that here in NSW people have the right to assemble peacefully and protect their human rights, we also understand the right for people to defend themselves in the court of law,” Principal Solicitor Rayan Kadadi said.
POLICE MINISTER’S REFUSAL TO APOLOGISE
Vaucluse MP Kellie Sloane said As Police Minister, Yasmin Catley “owes our Jewish community an apology”, after asking the Minister why that community had been warned by police to stay away from the Opera House ahead of the pro-Palestine rally.
“This (was) purely about dealing with the situation police were confronted in the best way to avoid conflict and to ensure public safety,” Ms Catley answered.
“(Police) needed to manage a highly volatile crowd, and again I say … They did that successfully,” she said.
“Police have advised me that operational commanders last night judged that the best option for police was to control and to manage the crowd movements which was going through our CBD.
“Their main aim was to prevent the risk of violence and conflict.
“The police did not approve a march. The process for avoiding protest meetings or marches, known as form one generally takes about a week to complete. There was no form one for this event. There was just a spontaneous gathering of a large number of people.”
‘MORAL FAILING’
Jewish groups have labelled the rally at the Opera House a political and moral failing.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry chief executive Alex Ryvchin accused the Greens of helping incitement.
“There have been political failings that have led to this … the Federal Greens and the state Greens, their atrocious statements attacking Israel in its time of greatest need and despair and promoting the rally yesterday I consider that to be an act of incitement,” he said.
“The scenes we have seen in our city last night should never have occurred, to see a mob on the streets of an icon in our city, lighting flares and burning flags should never have occurred, to see that mob chanting ‘gas the jews’ and ‘f**k the jews’ should never have occured.”
While Mr Ryvchin said he didn’t blame the police for telling the Jewish community to stay away from the CBD, as he recognised they were doing their jobs, he agreed there had been a failure in the chain of command.
“To see the Jewish community locked out of our own CBD while the mob ran riot and prevailed should not have been able to occur,” he said.
“Somewhere along the chain decisions were made, clearly they were poor decisions.”
Members of the Jewish community were warned to stay away from the area for their own safety.
It comes after people in their hundreds flocked to Lakemba Station just a day after at least 700 people were killed in Israel and another 2000 were reportedly injured.
A car in the neighbouring suburb of Greenacre was also spotted shooting fireworks while Palestinian flags flew from the windows.
‘HORRIFIC’: MINNS
Premier Chris Minns earlier said scenes from last night where anti-Semitic chants were hurled at the protest were “horrific”.
“Last night the Opera House was lit at the request of the Jewish community specifically to show solidarity with the Jewish community here in New South Wales,” he told NSW Parliament on Tuesday.
“Members of the Jewish community should be able to feel safe and secure in their own city in their own state in their own country. And the Jewish community has every right to get together in solemnity to commemorate what has happened in Israel.
“The scenes last night where epithets were thrown at the Jewish community by protesters was nothing short of horrific Mr Speaker, and the opposite of what we want in Australia and in New South Wales for a harmonious dynamic multicultural society.”
“To celebrate what’s happened in the Middle East in the last 48 hours is abhorrent.”
Opposition leader Mark Speakman also slammed supporters of Hamas.
“What ordinary person could think it was proper to kidnap ordinary citizens, to rape them, to break their bones, to parade nude bodies and spit on them … what normal person would think that that was acceptable.”
“And what we have seen in the last 48 hours, whether it’s on the forecourt of the Opera House or the streets of our suburbs, is simply unacceptable and we have to call out whenever we say whether it’s anti-Semitism or any other sort of hate speech.”
DUTTON CONDEMNS PROTEST
The threat to people of Jewish faith in Australia is “very real” as tensions flare in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned.
Speaking in Adelaide on Tuesday, Mr Dutton condemned the “terrible scenes” at the Opera House on Monday night and said the NSW police and Premier Chris Minns had questions to answer over the apparent arrest of a man carrying an Israeli flag near the protest.
“(They) have answers to provide today to questions as to why a man carrying an Israeli flag was dragged from, or removed from, the vicinity of the Opera House in order to go home.
“Police are charged with keeping the peace.
“I think this is a very significant issue for the NSW Government to answer and I look forward to hearing Premier Minns explain exactly what happened.”
Mr Dutton said he also found it “remarkable” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had not appeared to hold a formal National Security Cabinet meeting since the Hamas attack to discuss the “domestic threat level” and “look at ways in which they can de-escalate some of the scenes that we saw or prevent those gatherings from taking places in the first instance”.
It is understood the PM and relevant ministers have received rolling briefings from security agencies on the domestic and international situation since Saturday.
Mr Dutton said there are stories coming out of Jewish communities where kids were being told not to wear their school uniforms in public.
“That’s the environment in which our Jewish community is living in our country at the moment,” he said.
Mr Dutton said there was “no excuse” for the behaviour from anti-Israel protesters.
“(The Hamas attack) is not a border conflict,” he said.
“This was an act of terrorism and treachery and it should be properly condemned by every decent human being.
“I think some of the behaviour that we saw at the Opera House last night does not belong in our country.”
Mr Dutton said people had the right to protest peacefully, but “some of the conduct last night was appalling”.
“Frankly, there should have been a lot more done to deter that gathering from taking place in the first instance.”
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