Jewish groups slam pro-Palestine protesters at the Australian Open
Jewish groups have condemned fans wearing pro-Palestine T-shirts at Melbourne Park this week, in an apparent breach of tournament rules.
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Jewish groups have condemned pro-Palestine protesters being allowed to show political slogans at the Australian Open in an apparent breach of tournament rules.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday reported a warning from AO tournament director Craig Tiley that protesters or anyone waving a flag banned at this month’s Grand Slam would be kicked out of Melbourne Park or turned over to police.
But images have emerged of people in the crowd at the tennis this week wearing T-shirts stamped with pro-Palestine messaging.
Australian Jewish Association chief executive Robert Gregory said it flew in the face of rules announced by AO organisers that fans could only wear flags and national emblems on days players from those countries were competing at Melbourne Park.
“The rules should be applied equally to everyone,’’ he said.
“There should not be an exception for Palestinian activists.
“Australians have been confronted by anti-Israel protests and disruptions to our cities for over a year.
“The last place Australians want to see this is at the tennis.”
In a statement, Tennis Australia on Tuesday said: “Anyone seeking to disrupt the event – or who is displaying material intended to disrupt, offend, vilify or that is political in nature – will be managed in line with the AO25 ticket terms and conditions.
“And may be asked to put away the material, or leave.’’
Tennis Australia bowed to public pressure at the 2022 AO, backflipping on an initial ban on fans wearing “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts in solidarity for the former Chinese player who had mysteriously disappeared at the time.
In a statement, the AJA said: “The Australian Open apparently has a rule, banning political slogans.
“They even enforced that against fans who were supporting Chinese player, Peng Shuai.
“Not so when it comes to the ‘Free Palestine’ crowd,’’
In a bid to keep “the happy slam” fan friendly, Russian and Belarusian flags have been banned at the tennis.
The Israel flag can only be flown on site when a player from that nation competes.
Wheelchair singles World No. 3 Guy Sasson is from Israel but will not play until the AO wheelchair championships are staged from January 21.
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