‘Can’t repeat last year’: Minns backs block of long weekend pro-Palestine rallies
Organisers’ admission it would be “impossible” to stop Hezbollah flags or symbols being displayed, and fears thousands – not hundreds – would attend fuelled police moves to stop weekend pro-Palestine rallies, says NSW Premier.
NSW
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A planned pro-Palestinian vigil will go ahead this Monday for the anniversary of October 7, despite police applying to the NSW Supreme Court to stop the event.
Protest organiser Palestinian Action Group have said regardless of the court’s decision they will hold both a rally in the Sydney CBD on October 6 and a vigil on the Town Hall steps on October 7.
The Daily Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that Police Commissioner Karen Webb had decided to lodge an application with the Supreme Court to stop both events over the two days, as they were not satisfied the protest could proceed safely. The application was lodged on Wednesday afternoon and will be determined by the court at 2pm on Thursday.
Yet both events will still go ahead regardless of whether the courts find them to be unlawful.
Palestinian Action Group spokesman Josh Lees said the group also planned to fight the police application in the courts.
“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,” he said.
“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 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 has warned of a “difficult weekend for Sydney” as he backs NSW Police’s move to block two pro-Palestine rallies planned for Sunday and Monday’s October 7 one-year anniversary of Hamas fighters killing more than 1200 people in Israel.
Mr Minns revealed that, during negotiations with NSW Police, protest organisers indicated it would be impossible to stop protesters from displaying Hezbollah flags or symbols.
He said police were also concerned the attendance to the Monday night vigil would be far larger than the 200-300 people event organisers said they were expecting.
The Premier emphasised that the decision was not made in order to silence protests in Sydney and pointed out that almost all protests over the last year had occurred with no incident.
“Many people have been attending these Palestinian marches not because they’re supporters of terrorist organisations like Hamas or Hezbollah,” he said.
“They have been attending these protests because they’re concerned about Palestinian rights, they’re concerned about civilians dying as the result of military operations in Gaza or they want a ceasefire.
“It was a difficult decision but we believe the right decision under the circumstances.
“We cannot have a situation where violent or illegal behaviour spills out onto the streets of Sydney for the one-year anniversary.
“We saw it days after the 7th October events down at the Opera House (last year). 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.”
COURT ORDER
It follows NSW Police moving to stop a pro-Palestinian gathering planned in Sydney CBD for October 7 by applying to the NSW Supreme Court order preventing the event.
NSW Police will fight the request from the Palestinian Action Group to hold a mass gathering on the steps of Town Hall exactly one year after Hamas fighters killed over 1200 people in Israel last year, which resulted in a year of intense fighting in Gaza and now Lebanon.
The court order will also seek to prohibit a separate pro-Palestinian march to be held on Sunday, October 6 in the CBD.
A NSW Police spokesperson said after negotiations with the protest organisers, who did apply with a Form 1 for each proposed public gathering, police “were not satisfied that the protest can proceed safely”.
“Accordingly, the Commissioner has decided to apply to the NSW Supreme Court to prohibit the two assemblies,” the spokesperson said.
“The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly; however, the first priority for the NSW Police Force is the safety of the participants and the wider community.”
Premier Chris Minns said the NSW Police had made the decision in line with crowd management and safety.
“We fully support the decision — our priority must be community safety,” he said.
“NSW is a strong multi-faith community — it is our responsibility to work together to ensure we keep this cohesive, harmonious, safe community that we have in NSW.”
This comes as Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for the urgent court order to prevent
Monday’s event from going ahead over concerns of a repeat of scenes this week in which multiple Hezbollah flags were flown at protests in Sydney and Melbourne last Sunday.
“The fact that these anti-Jewish protest gatherings are being considered and organised at a time when the Jewish community will be commemorating the greatest loss of life since the Holocaust is an utterly sickening and vile reflection on these protesters,” he said.
“How low will they stoop?
“The fact this action has to even be contemplated emanates from the failure of leadership that we have seen in this country since the disgraceful Sydney Opera House protests on 9 October last year. Enough is enough.”
Mr Dutton called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to talk to the event organisers to get them to change the date.
“The PM has to start showing some leadership here,” he said
“He needs to pick up the phone to community leaders organising these events and stop the glorification of a terrorist attack.”
The Palestinian Action Group has said the event will be a candlelight vigil for Palestine and Lebanon mourning 12 months of genocide and terrorism.
Posts of the event on social media call on the community to “mourn and stand in unity” at the Town Hall steps in a candlelight vigil.
“As we approach 12 months of genocide and terrorism inflicted by the terrorist state of Israel, our community stands resilient in the face of unprecedented loss and tragedy,” the post said.
“Every life stolen, every dream shattered, fuels our commitment to fight against ethnic cleansing and the entity’s terror project in the region.
“With recent provocations signalling a looming regional war, our resistance remains solid and grows stronger.”
The war in Gaza, which has now spread to Lebanon, began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year which resulted in the deaths of more than 1200 Israelis, the rape of hundreds and the kidnapping of 250 civilians. In response Israel commenced an invasion of Gaza, which the Palestinian Ministry of Health estimates has seen more than 41,000 Palestinians killed. More than 700 people have died in Lebanon in the most recent wave of Israeli attacks.
NSW opposition leader Mark Speakman has joined the chorus of politicians calling for the pro-Palestinian vigil to be held on a different date. He said that if the group could not guarantee there would not be similar scenes to those at the Sydney Opera House last year, the police must get a court order to prevent it.
“October 7 is a day marked by unspeakable tragedy, and to choose this day for a protest is both shocking and utterly disrespectful,” he said.
“If organisers cannot guarantee that this protest won’t spiral into the chaos we saw last year, then the Premier and Minister for Police must immediately work with the Police Commissioner to use every legal power available to shut it down before it begins.”
Sydney’s Jewish leaders have also called for the event’s organisers to move the vigil date. The city’s Jewish community will also host a large candlelight vigil on Monday evening in Sydney’s east, which will be attended by Mr Dutton, Premier Chris Minns and NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said authorities needed to prevent the gathering from taking place.
“They could gather on any other day as they have done every weekend this year but they’re gathering on October 7,” he said.
“The time has come for the government and police to say enough is enough.
“Our message to the organisers is to show some decency – on this one day when Jewish Australians will solemnly gather.
“We’ve never denied the right of people to protest even though we oppose their viewpoint or ideology but we are talking about the very first anniversary of that day – leave that one day alone.”
A NSW Police spokesperson said they were currently in negotiations with the Palestinian Action Group over the Monday vigil.
“The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly; however, the safety of the wider community remains the utmost priority,” the spokesperson said
Palestine Action Group spokesman Josh Lees said the group had organised successful and peaceful protests for the past 51 weeks.
“We are in ongoing negotiations with police about this weekends rally on 6 Oct and a candlelight vigil on 7 October,” he said.
“If necessary we will go to court to fight for our right to protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the war on Lebanon, but we hope the police will see reason and reach an agreement with us to facilitate another successful protest.”
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