The Project’s Waleed Aly defends pro-Palestine protests on-air

Waleed Aly has warned of a “very dangerous” situation for Australians in the wake of the Israel and Palestine conflict.

Waleed Aly on The Project

The Project host Waleed Aly used his platform on the show on Thursday to urge authorities not to ban pro-Palestine protests following Monday night’s chaos in Sydney.

A rally in Sydney took place following the decision to light up the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag.

As the world follows the war between Israel and Hamas, on our own doorstep, there are divides beginning to show, with an ASIO warning now being issued. Our hosts share their thoughts on how Australia is managing itself during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/H9kTvPbVDy

— The Project (@theprojecttv) October 12, 2023

While it started out peacefully, it escalated as protesters faced off with over 100 cops after an angry mob chanted “gas the jews” and burnt an Israeli flag.

Waleed Aly shared his thoughts on the calls to stop pro-Palestine protests from going ahead around Australia. Picture: The Project

Aly and his co-hosts discussed the incident during the latest episode of The Project, and the presenter warned that shutting down future protests could spark further unrest.

“I understand what the NSW government’s position is on trying to shut down the protests, but I just think it’s a very dangerous path to walk,” he shared.

“They’re (the pro-Palestinian demonstrators) responding to the idea of the Opera House being lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag, and the whole thing is recognise our pain, recognise our hurt, recognise our dead over however many years that haven’t been recognised.

Palestine supporters rally outside the Sydney Opera House. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Aly continued: “(If you say) ‘Sorry, you cannot protest’ because there was a group of people who said something they absolutely shouldn’t have then I think that will only increase resentment among all those protesters who had nothing to do with that, right?

“And we read out a statement on the show from the organisers who said that the people in question were fewer than 20, it went for about a minute and they shut it down.”

The Project star went on to insist protesters who do break the law and try to incite violence rather than peace should “have the book thrown at the them”.

Aly urged cops to “throw the book” at protesters who incite hatred of any kind. Picture: The Project

“We’ve got endless laws to deal with this,” he said. “If people end up doing that, throw the book at them, I’ve absolutely no problem with that, we’ve got hate speech laws and incitement to violence laws and some of that was straight up incitement to violence, right?

“Throw the book at them, I’ve got no problem. One of the reasons you have those laws, I think, is to facilitate the speech and the representation of others and I just worry that we’re walking down a path and we’re now seeing politicians getting involved and start doing lines on it. I just - yeah.

“I think we might be taking a misstep. And I think the right to protest is one of those things that exists within a democracy and it is possible to feel sympathy for the victims on both sides of this.”

ASIO chief warns of ‘opportunistic violence’

On Thursday, Australia’s spy boss has warned of increased potential for “opportunistic violence with little or no warning” in Australia following Hamas’ bloody incursion in Israel.

In a statement released on Thursday, Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) head Mike Burgess cautioned the agency was on high alert for politically or religiously motivated violence.

“ASIO is carefully monitoring the situation for any indications of planned violence. Were we to see any, we would respond accordingly, along with our law enforcement partners,” director-general Burgess said.

While the national terrorism threat level remains “possible”, Burgess warned against extremists escalating protests to stoke community disharmony.

ASIO head Mike Burgess warned over a rise in “opportunistic violence” following the Israel-Hamas conflict. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“I remain concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning. However, it is important to distinguish opportunistic violence from planned violence or acts of terrorism,” he said.

“ASIO remains well-placed to detect threats to security including potential acts of politically motivated violence or the promotion of communal violence.”

Director-general Burgess said it was critical all parties consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements.

“As I have said previously, words matter. ASIO has seen direct connections between inflamed language and inflamed community tensions.

“As always, ASIO is not interested in those who are engaged in lawful protest, but rather the small subset of protesters who may wish to escalate protest to violence.

Crowds have gathered across the country in support of Palestine following the outbreak of conflict. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“This includes religiously motivated and ideologically motivated extremists, or anyone who believes that violence is a means to further their own interests.”

Mr Burgess’ warning follows the controversial pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney on Monday night where activists burned the Israeli flag chanted anti-Semitic slogans.

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had called for the protest to be called off out of respect for those killed in the conflict in Israel.

On Wednesday, NSW Police announced they had rejected pro-Palestinian activists’ request for an authorised protest this Sunday.

The rally is expected to go ahead without police protection under the state’s strict protest laws on the grounds organisers failed to give less seven days’ notice.

— with NCA NewsWire