Protestors beaten, arrested as Herzog visit continues
Police deployed pepper spray and arrested several people after a protest against Israel’s visiting president in one major city descended into chaos.
Source: David Shoebridge
Police have defended their actions after officers were filmed punching protestors at a rally against visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended by thousands on Monday afternoon.
Anti-Herzog activists gathered at Sydney Town Hall and there were also protests in capital cities around the country.
One video shared by Greens senator David Shoebridge shows police repeatedly punching a man who is holding up his hands.
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Another video circulating shows police forcibly removing Muslim men who are praying on the street.
Protestors told media outlets that police were “aggressive”, throwing tear gas and “squashing” people who were ringed by officers, with no way to get out.
Police said 27 people were arrested and 10 officers were hurt when the rally erupted in clashes.
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NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said the footage on social media was just small snippets that had been “taken out of context”.
He described the protest action as a “rolling melee of violence and unAustralian and unappropriate (sic) behaviour”.
McKenna said officers had been “threatened, jostled and assaulted” and had to use special powers to move people on.
NSW Premier Chris Minns defended police on Tuesday morning, saying they were dealing with a riotous and combustible situation that “needed to be contained”.
“NSW Police lines were repeatedly charged, they gave a lawful direction to disperse, largely ignored,” he said.
Police detain demonstrators during the protest at Sydney’s Town Hall. Photo: AAP
Prior to the chaos, the crowd stood peacefully and chanted in between speeches from people such as former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Jewish academic Antony Loewenstein, and Amnesty International Australia spokesman Mohamed Duar.
Organisers had hoped to march through the city but a court decision, that upheld the police’s ability to restrict protests, scuppered plans.
As the demonstration ended, the group moved towards the exit, with some trying to leave and others calling on the hundreds of surrounding police to let them march.
Though there was an exit towards the south side of the block where some could trickle out, along most of the square’s mouth, police restricted movement and would not let people march, forcing the large group into a gridlock.
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Protestors’ chants soon grew louder and the police presence swelled.
Officers issued a move-on order but many within the immense, densely packed crowd were unclear on directions and the situation quickly devolved.
Police were accused of firing tear gas and using pepper spray. Photo: AAP
Police on foot and on horseback formed a front and rushed at the protestors as they attempted to disperse the group.
Others were seen beating and deploying pepper spray at attendees. At one point a group of Muslim men leading a prayer were ripped from their knees and taken away by police.
Media, including photographers and those with press passes displayed, were forcibly pushed away from the scene by officers.
Medics attended pepper-sprayed protestors, pouring water into their eyes.
The protest began peacefully. Photo: AAP
“Instead of respecting the right of 50,000 people who turned up to express their outrage against our government celebrating someone accused of inciting genocide, the police resorted to unleashing unseen violent repression,” Palestine Action Group Sydney wrote in a social media post.
Protests across other major Australian cities also drew strong attendance as participants spoke out against Israel’s bombardment and starvation of Gaza — which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians — and decried photos of Herzog signing an artillery shell that would be dropped on the occupied territory.
The Israeli president will continue his Australia tour on Tuesday. He was invited to Australia by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the Bondi mass shooting in mid-December.
On Monday, Herzog visited the scene of the terror attack. He will have more community events on Tuesday.
Asked if he had a message to protestors, he claimed the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” Israel’s existence.
The federal government has said Herzog’s visit would provide comfort to the Jewish community.
-with AAP
