Peak Jewish community group pleaded with authorities to keep protesters away from the Opera House
Jewish community leaders pleaded with Police Minister Yasmin Catley to keep pro-Palestinian protesters away from the Opera House while the sails lit up in the colours of Israel but were told there was nothing she could do to stop the rally.
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Exclusive: Jewish community leaders pleaded with Police Minister Yasmin Catley to keep pro-Palestinian protesters away from the Opera House while the sails lit up in the colours of Israel but were told there was nothing she could do to stop the rally.
NSW Police are now under increasing pressure to prevent further violent protests, with police intelligence suggesting that pro-Palestinian groups will continue to hold further rallies, on a regular basis, in the city and in the southwest Sydney.
Ahead of another rally planned for Sunday, Premier Chris Minns warned that anyone who broke the law at Monday’s protest could expect to be charged.
“NSW Police are going through CCTV of Monday night’s protest and will be targeting illegal behaviour that was committed on the steps on the Opera House last night. Those who have broken the law will face the full force of the law,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday described scenes at the protest as “horrific” and “appalling,” while reiterating that the protest should not have gone ahead.
He called for Australians to “lower the temperature”.
“I understand that people have deep views about issues relating to the Middle East conflict but here in Australia we have to deal with political discourse in a respectful way,” he told Sky News.
Despite the Premier labelling Monday night’s protest as “abhorrent’ and “terrible,” Jewish groups on Tuesday slammed the government over what they called a political and moral failing in handling the rally.
“The Jewish community of Sydney will long remember the infamy and disgrace of last night — when we were not safe to attend our own CBD,” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip told the Telegraph.
Following that advice, Mr Ossip said the Jewish Board of Deputies “registered its concerns directly with the Police Minister and requested that the rally be restricted to Town Hall”.
“The Jewish Board of Deputies told the Police Minister that a situation whereby Jews would be unable to attend the CBD for security reasons was difficult to comprehend and not acceptable.”
Ms Catley’s spokesman said she told Mr Ossip that managing the protest was a matter for police.
Senior police on Tuesday said the decision not to redirect the protesters away from the Opera House was made to reduce the prospect of confrontation and conflict with protesters for public safety reasons.
“Engaging in hands-on conflict was not considered the best option at the time,’’ said a senior officer.
“We were getting reports from plain clothes police in the crowd that there were those who were wanting to engage in violence with the police,’’ he said.
“By not giving them the provocation they wanted no civilians or officers were hurt. It is a balancing act with highly charged people and inflaming them was considered to not be the safest option,’’ said.
Earlier, Ms Catley refused to apologise to the Jewish community for the scenes at the Opera House, declaring that police “successfully” managed a “highly volatile crowd” of anti-Israel protesters.
Organisers of the unauthorised protest had not completed any paperwork to advise police of the gathering, where angry protesters lit flares, burned an Israeli flag, and shouted chants of “f**k the Jews”.
Ms Catley described the protest as a “spontaneous gathering of a large number of people”. Organisers first posted about the rally on social media just after 8pm on Saturday.
But Liberal Leaer Mark Speakman said the government had ample time to be better prepared.
“The Minister knew this was happening and didn’t lift a finger to stop it happening.”
The Opposition joined Jewish community groups in declaring that the protest should never have been allowed to march on the Opera House.
Despite his criticism of Ms Catley, Mr Ossip last night said he was “deeply grateful” to the Premier for “strong and steadfast support”.
“At a very dark time, he and Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper have demonstrated great moral clarity which we will never forget.”
Meanwhile, Executive Council of Australian Jewry chief executive Alex Ryvchin said there had been failings 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.”
Mr Ryvchin said it was a “moral failing” for someone to be arrested for showing solidarity with Israel while pro-Palestinian protesters were allowed to “run riot”.
In a statement, organisers of Sunday night’s protest described the event as “successful and peaceful,” and blamed a “tiny fringe” of “vile anti-Semitic attendees” for the violent behaviour.
“They were quickly condemned for their chants and asked to leave. Long-standing Palestinian organisers and activists, Palestinian, Arab and Muslim elders attending the protest were disgusted and deplored by the action. This is not what our movement stands for,” the Palestinian Action Group posted on its Facebook page.
The group said protestors would be back at Town Hall on Sunday.
“We will not bow to pressure from parliamentarians to end our mobilisations,” the post said.
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