Islamic Council of Victoria president backs October 7 ‘memorial’
Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman says a Melbourne rally on October 7 is needed for the pro-Palestine community “to come together to share its deep grief”, as Sydney organisers abandon their plans.
Victoria
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One of Victoria’s top Muslim leaders has backed the organisers of a pro-Palestine rally on October 7 — the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel — claiming the Islamic community “needed” the event.
It comes as organisers of a twin-rally in Sydney have abandoned plans for a protest on the same date.
As NSW police took the groups to court in a bid to block the planned rally, organisers scrapped the planned October 7 vigil at Sydney Opera House, agreeing that no authorised protest should occur on Monday.
But the Sydney organisers are still clinging to hope of having a rally the day before, on Sunday October 6.
The Sydney move comes after Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman told the Herald Sun he supported the October 7 “memorial” in Melbourne, organised by the Free Palestine Coalition to allow Islamic community and pro-Palestine protesters to grieve.
“Holding a vigil on October 7th for the more than 40,000 lives lost in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza is needed for the community to come together to share its deep grief and anguish and to remember and honour the victims,” he said.
Mr Salman, who has previously refused to condemn Hamas for its October 7 attack, said the mass gathering planned for Monday would welcome people of all faiths.
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday joined a chorus of political leaders calling for the October 7 plans to be abandoned.
Mr Andrews, who now serves as a patron of national body, Labor Friends of Israel, slammed organisers for their plans to hold the “shameful” event.
“To protest on October 7 is shameful and disgusting,” he told the Herald Sun.
Both Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have also urged protesters to cancel the “grotesque” rally.
Earlier on Thursday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took aim at Jacinta Allan, demanding she do everything at her disposal to stop a rally on that date and pointing to her government’s hard-line approach during Covid.
But Victorian authorities say they are powerless to stop the event.
Mr Dutton accused the Victorian government of “hiding behind an argument of convenience” and saying it was “OK for protesters to be out of the street”.
“The Premier is at odds with the majority of Victorians, who would not support the celebration of death,” Mr Dutton said in Melbourne.
“What is the justification for the Premier here not to do everything at her disposal to stop these protests from taking place?
“She was part of a government that deployed the police force here in Victoria during the course of Covid to enforce the rule of law and I think the Victorian Labor Party should have the same resolve in relation to this issue.
“If there is a will, there is a way to stop these protests.”
Mr Dutton reinforced that the October 7 attacks resulted in the largest loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust.
He said the thought that people would be allowed to go out on to the streets and celebrate an anniversary of the Holocaust was “inconceivable”.
“It’s about time the Prime Minister and the Premier here in Victoria stood up for the best interests of Victorians and Australians more generally,” Mr Dutton said.
“The Premier of Victoria had great capacity ... and I’m sure there are laws available.”
Asked if Victoria should look at a similar protest permit system to NSW or use unlawful assembly laws flagged by Liberal MP Michael O’Brien, Mr Dutton said: “There may be other options available”.
“I’m sure lawyers can provide that advice,” he said.
But Ms Allan said police already had all the powers they needed.
“Victoria Police have the powers and the tools and the resources that they need to protect community safety, to move people on should they be threatening that community safety (and) to deal with people who may be displaying deeply inappropriate flags and symbols,” she said.
Ms Allan again dismissed calls to introduce a NSW-style permit system.
“The permit system is no guarantee that protests won’t go ahead,” she said.
“Do we really think that individuals with hatred in their heart, with a desire to cause ongoing division, potentially carrying flags of proscribed terrorist organisations, do you really think they’re going to apply for a permit? And do you really think they’re going to follow the requirements of that permit?”
Ms Allan said Mr Dutton’s criticisms were irrelevant.
“The untrustworthy Liberals are really not relevant here when it comes to my focus on supporting community safety,” she said.
Police ‘don’t have power’ to stop rally
Victoria Police has declared it does “not have the power” to stop the October 7 rally, as their NSW counterparts returned to the Supreme Court.
A police spokesman said lawful protests could not be blocked because there was “no permit system for protests in Victoria”.
Victoria Police has previously contacted Police Minister Anthony Carbines about the introduction of a permit system.
But the Allan government has repeatedly rejected calls to bring Victoria into line with other states, instead saying Victoria Police has powers to move on protesters if they are putting another person in danger, or threatening to injure or damage property.
Ms Allan on Wednesday urged people to “reconsider the need to protest next week”, but refused to listen to fresh calls to introduce the laws to Victoria.
“People should not be protesting on October 7,” she said.
Mr Albanese called for calm during a visit to Melbourne on Wednesday, saying it was not appropriate to hold a rally on a day marking “the largest loss of life of Jewish people since the Holocaust”.
“It will do nothing to advance the cause,” he said.
Mr Dutton, who had led calls for the rallies next Monday to be cancelled, said he hoped “the Victorian government could follow suit with the NSW police application to the court to stop what would be a grotesque gathering”.
“That is not an anniversary that should be celebrated,” he said.
“People should not be triumphant. People should not be celebrating the life of a terrorist in (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah or otherwise.
“The government should be doing, at a state and federal level, everything they can to stop these protests.”
State Liberal leader John Pesutto, who accused the Allan government of allowing violent and hateful rallies to become “normalised”, said the government must consider a permit system. He unleashed on the protesters.
“They have no intention of peacefully projecting their voice,” he said.
“They want to do it violently and in a way which either incites violence or puts others in fear.”
It comes as organisers of a pro-Palestine rally in Victoria on Wednesday ignored pleas from the Prime Minister, Premier and Jewish leaders to cancel the event.
Spokeswoman Tasnim Sammak, who has had family members killed in Gaza, said a “silent procession” would represent the “silenced calls for a permanent ceasefire and a just solution that is yet to be achieved one year after Israel declared its war”.
“The vigil welcomes Jewish community members who, like the Palestinians, want to see a ceasefire,” she said.
But Ms Sammak refused to say if the rally would also be commemorating the deaths of Hamas terrorists who have died during Israel’s retaliation.
Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence slammed the pro-Palestine groups’ refusal to back down, accusing them of trying to “hijack someone else’s anniversary”.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler described the rally as “sickening”, noting there was “no Israeli military response into Gaza on October 7”.
The Jewish community on Monday will be “solemnly mourning the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust”, Mr Leibler said.
The Prime Minister is expected to return to Melbourne early next week with Foreign Minister Penny Wong to attend a Jewish community event which will commemorate the victims of the October 7 terror attack.
But his planned attendance has angered some members of the Jewish community, with the Australian Jewish Association labelling their invites “outrageous”.
“It goes without saying that Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese are unwelcome in large parts of the Jewish community,” the group said.
“Labor has shown that they are no friends of the Jewish community.”
Originally published as Islamic Council of Victoria president backs October 7 ‘memorial’
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