Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday he was “shocked” by the violence that erupted Monday at a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney during a visit to the city by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Herzog’s visit, for which he was invited to Sydney following a massacre during the Hanukkah holiday in which 15 people were killed, took place under heavy security. Police were deployed in reinforced numbers, with thousands of officers stationed across Sydney.
In protest of Herzog’s visit, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in central Sydney near City Hall. Ahead of the rally, police imposed restrictions on the protesters, and during the demonstration barred them from marching through areas that had been closed off. Some demonstrators resisted, and violent clashes broke out between them and police. Officers used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Police push Muslim worshippers at Sydney protest
New South Wales Police, in the state where Sydney is located, said 27 people were arrested during the protest, including 10 suspected of assaulting police officers. Asked about the unrest, Albanese said he was appalled, adding that “these really are scenes that, in my view, should not occur.” Albanese, who has faced harsh criticism following the Hanukkah massacre, called on demonstrators to protest nonviolently and voiced support for the police. “Police were very clear about the routes that could be used,” he said. “Australians want two things: they do not want the conflict brought here, and they want the killing to stop — both of Israelis and of Palestinians. Scenes like these do not advance the cause; they damage it,” the Australian prime minister added.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns defended the police, saying officers were required to make rapid decisions in a tense and extraordinary situation. “I understand there is criticism of New South Wales Police, so I want to make it clear that they found themselves in an impossible situation,” Minns said. Not far from the protest, Herzog took part in a memorial ceremony for the massacre victims, attended by thousands of people. Minns said that had the pro-Palestinian demonstrators been allowed to march near the ceremony, a disaster could have occurred.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon justified the police response to Monday’s protest, saying officers had shown restraint. “The officers did what they needed to do,” Lanyon said, noting that the goal was to prevent protesters from entering areas designated as off-limits. Police said there were no reports of people suffering serious injuries during the response to the disturbances.
Palestine Action, one of the organizers of the pro-Palestinian protest, claimed that demonstrators who wanted to leave the scene were unable to do so because police surrounded them on all sides. “Police began charging into the crowd on horseback, spraying pepper spray indiscriminately, beating people and arresting them,” the group said.
Anger toward police in Sydney was fueled in part by a video circulated online showing Muslim men praying near the protest site and being pushed by officers. “Let them pray,” protesters shouted at police. In another incident, a 69-year-old grandmother was hospitalized after attending the protest and being assaulted by police. According to The Guardian, the woman suffered fractures to four vertebrae in her spine. In an interview, she said an officer violently threw her to the ground without warning. “I immediately knew my back was injured,” she said. She added that while she was lying on the ground, police used force against other protesters on top of her, and she feared she would be crushed and suffocate. “They pushed everyone, and everyone fell on me,” she said.
A spokesperson for New South Wales Police said the force was not aware of the incident and that investigators were continuing to review footage from the protest.
In a separate case, Abigail Boyd, a member of the New South Wales Parliament from the Greens party, was injured. Boyd said she was assaulted by police while trying to leave the protest and posted a photo of herself wearing a neck brace. “I didn’t know this is what police could do in our country. I am just in complete shock,” Boyd said. Protest groups have called for demonstrations Tuesday in central Sydney against police violence.