Planned October 7 rallies ‘incredibly provocative’, PM says

Anthony Albanese says pro-Palestine rallies planned for the anniversary of Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel should not go ahead.

Anthony Albanese says pro-Palestine rallies planned for the anniversary of Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel should not go ahead, calling them “incredibly provocative.”

Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that administers Gaza, killed 1200 in its attacks last year, and took hundreds more hostage when its fighters withdrew.

The ensuing Israeli response has killed upward of 40,000 people in the Palestinian territory.

The Prime Minister said on Wednesday “there certainly shouldn’t be any protests on October 7”.

“It would not advance any cause. It would cause a great deal of distress,” he told the ABC.

“It’s important that people be able to express themselves peacefully.

“But October 7, it will be one year since the largest number of deaths and murders … of Jewish people since the Holocaust.”

Anthony Albanese has said pro-Palestine rallies planned for the anniversary of Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel should not go ahead. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Albanese, who will attend a vigil to mark October 7, said “anything that looks like it’s a celebration” of the attacks “would cause disharmony.”

“We need to promote social cohesion in our multicultural nation,” the Prime Minister said.

Demonstrations are facing increased scrutiny after flags of the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and framed pictures of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, appeared at pro-Palestine rallies last weekend.

NSW Police said on Wednesday they arrested a 19-year-old woman after she presented herself to a police station in Sydney’s south.

Hers was the first arrest in connection with the weekend protests.

On Tuesday, NSW Police said they were applying to the state’s supreme court to prohibit demonstrations on 6 October and 7 October organised by Palestine Action Group.

They said they had negotiated with demonstration organisers but were “not satisfied that the protest can proceed safely.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed the action taken by police.

Palestine Action Group said in a statement the police move to block their rallies was “an attack on fundamental democratic rights.”

People hold up pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at a protest at Town Hall in Sydney on September 29. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“The Palestine Action Group has been organising peaceful rallies for 51 consecutive weeks,” the group said.

“The application to ban demonstrations commemorating and mourning one year of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and now invasion of Lebanon is an attack on fundamental democratic rights.”

Much of Hamas’ October 7 assault was captured in graphic videos that flooded social media.

Witnesses on the ground shared accounts of whole families being slaughtered and horrific sexual violence.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has not ruled that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a densely populated strip riddled with weapons depots and tunnels used by Hamas militants.

Hezbollah began firing rockets across the Lebanese border at civilian areas in northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas following the October 7 attacks, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli’s from their homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon until displaced residents can safely return to northern Israel.