NSW Police urged to block Hezbollah mourners

Counter-terrorism police and the Department of Home Affairs have been alerted to a ‘commemoration service’ to be held in western Sydney following the death of three Hezbollah fighters.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators in Sydney earlier this month. Picture: Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Counter-terrorism police and the Department of Home Affairs have been alerted to a “commemoration service” to be held in western Sydney following the death of three Hezbollah fighters.

The service is scheduled to be held in Kingsgrove on Saturday evening. The men were killed by the Israeli army between October 9 and October 13. Hezbollah, a terrorist organisation backed by Iran, has fuelled fears of a wider Middle Eastern war by launching attacks on Israel.

It is believed the fighters had families in Sydney, with the service to be held at the Al Rahman Mosque in Kingsgrove, and ­“intended for all Muslims”.

A pamphlet posted online says the service is to “commemorate the death of our late beloved Taha Abbas Abbas, Ali Marmar and Hussam Ibrahim”.

Two of the fighters were killed by an Israeli drone, and the other during a gunfire exchange. It is understood Israeli intelligence is also aware of the memorial.

Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, whose cousin, police inspector Chen Amir, was murdered in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in August, condemned the service.

“I feel sick by this stomach-churning celebration of the evil, slaughter and cult death of Hezbollah that will shock the conscience of every Australian,” he said. “ How can anyone, in a house of worship, honour mass murderers and terrorists?

He said Australia’s reputation as a “tolerant, inclusive country” for the Jewish community was being “torn to shreds”.

“At a time of surging anti-Semitism in this country, this ‘commemoration service’ … will be a stain on the community that will never be erased,” he said. “I urge NSW police to explore whether they have the power to stop this.”

News of the commemoration emerged as NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb revealed 11 ­arrests had been made in relation to a pro-Palestine rally on ­October 9, at which anti-Semitic chanting was heard and Israeli flags burned at the Sydney Opera House.

She announced the arrests in a briefing on the progress of Operation Shelter and Strike Force Mealing. Both were formed after the rally to investigate the scenes at the Opera House and co-ordinate the police response to future protests. The 11 arrests and 22 charges include those related to alleged incidents at the Opera House and those of an anti-Semitic nature that fall under Operation Shelter’s remit.

Three men – two 31-year-olds and a 45-year-old – were charged on Wednesday over an alleged assault at the Opera House, where an altercation between the trio and a fourth man escalated. Ms Webb said she hoped more charges would be laid in as officers trawled through “hours of ­footage”.