Australia’s political leaders have expressed outrage and condemnation following a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney on Monday. The rally, aimed at showing solidarity with Palestine, took an ugly turn when the protesters began shouting anti-Semitic chants.
Almost 2,000 demonstrators gathered in the heart of Sydney’s central business district to show support for Palestine. The protest kicked off at Town Hall and then moved towards the Sydney Opera House. Despite the overarching message of solidarity, the event was marred by instances of extreme anti-Semitic rhetoric from some attendees, causing widespread outrage and concern.
Some of the protestors voiced extreme anti-Semitic views, including the highly disturbing chant of “gas the Jews” and “f–k the Jews.” There were instances where the Star of David was burnt in front of the iconic opera house.
Daily Mail reported:
There were scenes of chaos at the Opera House as the demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims – some wearing black masks – who threw lit flares at police and chanted ‘f*** Israel’ and ‘f*** the Jews’ beneath the steps of the iconic harbouside venue.
At one point, there were even chants of ‘gas the Jews’.
Daily Mail Australia witnessed a large crowd of men attempting to set light to an Israeli flag with firecrackers before stamping on it and tearing it to shreds.
Cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great in Arabic) and ‘death to the Jews’ rang out as some members of the crowd swarmed towards the police barrier, brandishing torn pieces of the Israeli flag – despite the rally organisers calling for protesters to respect the police.
Over 100 cops formed a ring of steel along the steps of the Opera House and didn’t intervene when flares or other projectiles were thrown at them.
Instead, they placed the lit flares in buckets of water as acrid smoke filled the air.
WATCH:
Video: A crowd at the steps of the Sydney Opera House chants “gas the Jews” and “f*ck the Jews” on October 9. pic.twitter.com/uPNLuaIgcv
— Gabriel Noronha (@GLNoronha) October 9, 2023
The police are now facing criticism for permitting the protest to proceed and did not intervene while advising Jewish Australians to ‘stay home’ for their well-being.
According to law enforcement, they allowed the pro-Palestine demonstrators to proceed to the Sydney Opera House, believing it was more effective to oversee their movement rather than attempting to obstruct it.
“I don’t know why this protest went ahead in any event after so much bloodshed in Israel,” New South Wales premier, Chris Minns told Seven’s Sunrise. He noted that the police had “obviously made an operational decision about the safety of Sydney” to allow the march to proceed, adding that “those circumstances were what they are”.”
Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told ABC Radio National, “I think we should all be concerned.”
“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism or prejudice or hatred of any kind and we should all stand firm against the sort of antisemitic language that unfortunately some engaged [in] – just as we should stand firm against all prejudice.
“It goes to who we are as a country and it goes to one of our greatest strengths, which is our diversity but our unity around values.”
Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke justified the NSW Police’s approach, stating that it wasn’t about endorsing or permitting the protest, but rather about managing the situation as it unfolded.
“Very clearly, my best option was to control and manage the situation … in the end the risks of conflict were avoided,” he said. “This is not about us condoning, supporting [or] facilitating any protest… This is about us providing for the public safety.”
“We do not expect people to bring conflict from other places to the streets of Sydney, and violence will not be tolerated,” he added.
The NSW police have initiated an inquiry, and the NSW premier, Chris Minns cautioned that anyone found engaging in “racial vilification, incitement of hatred, or promoting violence” will face charges, according to the Guardian.
“To have some people celebrate atrocious indiscriminate killing and kidnapping in Israel is appalling,” Minns said.
“This is the opposite of the dynamic multicultural community we want in NSW and Australia. Racial epithets were thrown at the Jewish community by the mere fact that they were members of the Jewish community which is shocking and abusive and potentially a crime.”
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