Woman arrested after pro-Palestine protesters disrupt Carols by Candlelight
Jewish leaders warn new year’s eve and Australia Day celebrations will be subject to ‘guerrilla-type tactics’ by pro-Palestine activists.
Jewish leaders warn new year’s eve and Australia Day celebrations will be subject to “guerrilla-type tactics” by pro-Palestine activists, after two protesters who hijacked a Carols in Candlelight show while children were on stage faced no charges.
Police arrested a 21-year-old woman who rushed the stage of the annual Christmas Eve event at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl over the concealment of a “controlled weapon”. But neither the woman nor her fellow protester was charged over the storming of the stage.
The 21-year-old was only handed a minor infringement notice over the weapon, which police refused to describe.
The incident unfolded in front of tens of thousands of people at the family-friendly event and tens of thousands more watching the broadcast live from home.
A woman holding a Palestinian flag ran around the stage before attempting to wrestle a microphone off hosts David Campbell and Sarah Abo.
“While you’re carolling, kids are dying in Gaza,” the woman screamed.
The protesters then disrupted child entertainers Emma Memma and Elvin Melvin’s performance at 8.30pm as children on stage were escorted to safety.
The event’s hosts reassured the booing crowd as security ushered the pair of protesters quickly off stage.
“They’re allowed to have their moment … But we did have kids here so we want to make sure those kids are safe, they’re going to come back out in a second,” Mr Campbell said. “It is a very hard time in this world. It’s a hard time for all of us to come together on a night like this too when there’s a lot of pain out there a lot of people are experiencing.”
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the Brunswick woman was arrested and issued with an infringement notice for possession of a controlled weapon. The second protester was moved on by officers and a further two activists were denied entry at the event’s gates.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich called the onstage protest “ugly” and said it sought to “destroy the spirit of Christmas”.
“These agents of division want to spread their hateful ideology of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel agenda everywhere,” he said.
“They are changing our city, once a tolerant haven, into a cesspool of propaganda. Carols by Candlelight was once a safe place for families to celebrate the beauty of Christmas.”
Dr Abramovich said he was “very concerned” about “guerrilla-type protest tactics” being deployed in similar instances across new year’s eve and Australia Day.
“No one should be in fear in their own city, but this is sadly where we are heading to,” he said.
“I trust that law enforcement will identify those responsible for such vile actions and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. We have all had enough of this menace.”
Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence said new year and Australia Day celebrations were not the time to protest.
“However misguided or misinformed your views, we live in an incredibly tolerant society that by and large allows you to espouse them in public,” Mr Lawrence said.
“But there’s a time and a place for protesting and a family-friendly carol concert is neither – nor are new year’s eve or Australia Day celebrations, occasions that are meant to unite us.
“Disrupting such events does nothing to advance the prospects of peace in the Middle East and only serves to further fracture our already fragmented multicultural society.”
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein called the onstage activism “self-indulgent, inconsiderate and arrogant”.
“The protest and the attempt to hijack another culture’s celebration shows total disrespect and disregard,” Dr Rubenstein said.
“It is time those who are calling for further protests brought their agitators into line and denounced without reservation this premeditated Christmas Eve act.”
He said he was concerned the protest would not be an isolated incident, with fears similar stances could be seen on new year’s eve and Australia Day.
Anthony Albanese, when asked about the protest, said social cohesion was “absolutely critical”.
“This is a time in which we come together as a nation,” the Prime Minister said. And it’s important that be cherished and nourished and that we don’t seek to divide.”
Peter Dutton said the act was disappointing for the performers and children on stage at an “event that unites Australians”.
“I’m pleased it was resolved satisfactorily, but people should be respectful – and this protest was not,” the Opposition Leader said. “It was out of line and it should be condemned.”
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said attempts to disrupt the festive season would be “dimly viewed” by ordinary Australians. “I think most Australians are cognisant of the existential battle Israel is facing,” Senator Bragg said.
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