Pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday will not go ahead, Premier Chris Minns has indicated
Organisers of a pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday have vowed to push on, despite the Premier saying they won’t get permission and they’ve ‘proven they’re not peaceful’ after shocking scenes at Sydney Opera House.
NSW
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Organisers of a pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday say it they will proceed with a Town Hall protest, despite Premier Chris Minns forecasting it would be banned.
Palestine Action Group Sydney organiser Josh Lees said the protest will be going ahead despite police planning to deem the meeting unlawful as the form to protest was not submitted within the seven day time period.
Mr Lees said Israel’s campaign against people in the Gaza Strip, has seen Palestinians killed, making it imperative to continue the protest, with or without police permission.
“We’re going to be there 1pm Sunday,” he said.
“If we don’t protest no one will, who else will care?”
Mr Lees said he was very disappointed by the Premier’s comments flagging permission to protest would be denied.
He said there was no intention for the protest to get violent in any way.
“The NSW government is supporting the crimes Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, war crimes – cutting of power and supplies,” he said.
“We will be there to peacefully protest — we won’t be clashing with the police and we hope they won’t clash with us,” he said.
“We’re supposed to live in a democracy and we call on the authorities to allow our democratic right to protest.
Mr Lees said he was not expecting Sunday’s rally to see a repeat of fires lit and flare thrown, as occurred on Monday evening.
“The protesters who lit flares were not part of the protest — they arrived later in the night and were not part of the group but of course people were angry — thousands of Palestinians have been killed,” he said.
PREMIER: COPS TO BAN SECOND RALLY
On Wednesday morning Premier Chris Minns’ indicated the rally, planned for Sunday will not go ahead, while apologising to the Jewish community after demonstrators hurled anti-Semitic chants and burnt Israeli flags at the Sydney Opera House.
“Protest organisers have already proven they’re not peaceful, shouting racial epithets at Jewish community members is not the definition of a peaceful protest,” Mr Minns said.
“The idea that they’re going to commandeer Sydney streets is not going to happen and I’m sure the NSW Police will make that clear this morning.”
He also apologised to the Jewish community, saying the government “failed” to make them feel safe on Monday after the Opera House was lit up blue and white in solidarity for Israel.
It followed the Hamas attacks on Israel on Saturday, which killed hundreds and has since escalated to all-out war on the Gaza Strip.
MINNS APOLOGISES, CATLEY REFUSES
The Premier may have apologised, but his Police Minister Yasmin Catley has refused to apologise to Mark Spiro in question time on Wednesday.
Mr Spiro was arrested by police on Monday during the pro-Palestine protest, as he had been holding an Israeli flag.
Mr Spiro who attended parliament in person on Wednesday sat in the public gallery as Ms Catley was asked if she would apologise to him in person for his arrest on Monday.
Ms Cately refused to do, instead she repeated he had been removed for his own safety.
“Assistant commissioner Cook answered this question yesterday, and he said the police removed that gentleman from what was a very conflictual protest that was happening for his own safety,” she said, not referring to Mr Spiro by name as he watched on.
Pressed under questioning, Ms Catley eventually offered an apology saying the Jewish community deserved to feel safe.
“I apologise to anyone if they feel unsafe,” she said.
A ‘stay away’ warning was issued to the Jewish community leading up to Monday’s protest, which escalated when pro-Palestinian supporters converged on the Sydney Opera House as its sails were lit up in the Israeli flag’s colours.
Fireworks and flares lit up the stairs of the Sydney iconic moments after it turned blue and white, and members of the crowd – which had earlier marched from Town Hall – started screaming “f*ck Israel”, and “f*ck the Jews” from behind covered faces.
Mr Minns addressed this on Wednesday morning, saying: “I want to comment a little bit about the events of the last 48 to 72 hours and in particular scenes we saw closer to Circular Quay.
“I really want to make it clear to the Jewish community that I want to apologise to them specifically on behalf of the government and myself as the Premier of New South Wales.
“The intentions of the government were very straightforward to light up the Opera House to create a place and a space for that community to come together to commemorate the horrific scenes that we’ve seen in Israel over the last 48 hours, and we didn’t do that.”
It comes after police said they would be trawling CCTV to hunt down anyone who had taken part in illegal activity at the protest, while Police Minister declined to apologise to the Jewish community over the incident.
The Premier acknowledged the safety of the Jewish communities attending Circular Quay on Monday night was compromised by protesters.
“Not only did we not create a space for the Jewish community to come together to reflect on these terrible events in the Middle East, but the Opera House forecourt was obviously overrun with people that were spewing racial epithets and hatred on the streets of Sydney,” he said.
“Now that’s not good enough.
“I want to make it clear. I’m not blaming anyone for this and as the Premier of New South Wales I take full responsibility for it and will make decisions to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
He also said he wished to ensure the Jewish community in New South Wales they can access the city safely.
“The intentions of the government couldn’t have been clearer (to create) a space for the Jewish community to commemorate what had happened in Israel, particularly taking into consideration the number of Australians that had family and friends that were caught up in this conflict and we weren’t able to do it,” he said.
“In fact, we didn’t do it. I take responsibility for that and I want to ensure that it won’t happen again.”
Originally published as Pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday will not go ahead, Premier Chris Minns has indicated
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