Key Points
- NSW Premier Chris Minns says a pro-Palestinian rally planned in Sydney on Sunday won't go ahead.
- The rally's cancellation follows antisemitic chanting by some people at a rally on Monday night.
- Organisers say they will appeal the decision.
Organisers of a controversial pro-Palestinian protest are vowing to march again this weekend in Sydney despite the NSW premier saying it would not go ahead.
A small group of protesters chanted anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric which started at Sydney Town Hall and ended on the steps of the Opera House on Monday night as the venue's sails were lit up in the colours of the Israeli flag.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he approved the lighting of the sails after a request from the Jewish community to show solidarity after the Islamist group Hamas invaded Israeli towns and massacred residents and festival attendees on Saturday.
Organisers of the protest said the media coverage had focused on a tiny fringe of "vile antisemitic attendees" who were asked by them to leave, alleging that NSW Police did not intervene to help in moving them on.
Following condemnation of the protest, Minns said a planned rally for Sunday in Sydney would not go ahead.
“The intentions were to light up the Opera House as a space for the Jewish community to commemorate what happened in Israel, the number of family and friends caught up in the conflict. We didn't do it. I take responsibility for that,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
“I want to ensure it won't happen again. The protest organisers have already proven they're not peaceful. Shouting racial epithets is not the definition of a peaceful protest. The idea they're going to commandeer Sydney streets is not going to happen.”
Academic Fahad Ali, one of the organisers of the protest, said NSW Police had informed them an application for the rally on Sunday had been rejected.
He said the group is considering legal avenues to appeal.
“The community has a right to protest military occupation … by Israel,” he told SBS News.
“Why is it that only some people get to mourn and not others - why is it that we cannot mourn our families, our friends, our colleagues.
“I think it's easy to see that this is a targeted political campaign to silence dissent. It has grave implications for civil liberties.”
Police in front of participants of a pro-Palestinian rally outside the Sydney Opera House on Monday night. Source: AAP / .
“We are going to make it abundantly clear from the podium and in the lead-up, that such behaviour is unacceptable,” he said.
“It has no place and people who engage in any kind of racism are not welcome.”
NSW Police warned protesters they could be breaking the law by attending the rally.
He said the rally would be unauthorised, because the appropriate forms to allow it to proceed - called a Form One letter - were not lodged within an appropriate timeframe.
“I would encourage people not to attend that assembly on Sunday,” Acting Commissioner David Hudson told reporters.
“Because they do not have protections that come from the appropriate issue of a Form One for breaking the law and they will be dealt with appropriately.”
He said police did “not have the powers” to prevent people from assembling at Sydney’s Town Hall for the rally, but police would be there to monitor the situation.
“We will have a large police presence available to us,” Hudson said.
More than 1,000 people attended a pro-Palestine rally outside the Victorian State Library on Tuesday evening.
Reports from Victoria Police indicated there were no major incidents or arrests amid a strong police presence.
A vigil for Israeli victims of the attacks is due to be held in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Wednesday evening.
- with AAP.
