New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns will not light up the Sydney Opera House with colours of the Palestinian flag.
This comes after the NSW Court of Appeal blocked a pro-Palestinian protest at the Sydney Opera House after police argued it would be unsafe.
The Opera House was the site of a controversial rally in October 2023, just after Hamas launched an attack on Israel, where an Israeli flag was set on fire and stomped on and anti-Semitic chants were heard.
Two years on, the Palestinian Action Group (PAG) was planning to hold a new protest with an estimated 40,000 people, which NSW Police argued would be risky given the lack of exit points.
“In these circumstances where the application was made to hold a protest at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, I think you’d agree it’s the opposite of pulling the community together in these circumstances,” Minns told reporters.
“While I appreciate people have a right to protest … I want to be conscious of not inflaming the situation.”
Minns told reporters the court ruling to block the protest was the right decision.
“I know that there’s been many protests over the last two years, something approaching 100 during that period of time. In fairness, the vast majority of them will have gone off without incident. We’re calling for the organisers to do the same if they elect an alternative route,” he said.
“We expect all applicants to abide by the court’s decision. I think reasonable people in Sydney would expect the police to uphold this judgment.”
Protest to Proceed on New Route
The Palestinian Action Group said a legal demonstration with a new route through the city along George Street would still take place on Oct. 12.
“We fought to uphold our right to protest to the Opera House. Unfortunately, today we were not successful, the NSW Court of Appeal has prohibited a march to the Opera House forecourt,” the PAG said.
The PAG said they were “disappointed” in the outcome, but this did not mean they would not protest in Sydney.
“Our rally on Sunday, 12 Oct is still legal and we have an agreed march route through the heart of the City. Marching down George St to Belmore Park.”
Jewish Community Welcomes Court Ruling
Meanwhile, Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Michele Goldman said the court was right not to authorise the protest to take over the Opera House precinct.
“The right to engage in public protest is fundamental but not unlimited. Like all rights, it has to be balanced against the equally fundamental rights of other people,” a joint statement said.
“The first major Gaza protest took place at the forecourt of the Opera House two days after the Hamas atrocities against Israel on 7 October 2023. The protest became notorious for its chants of ‘[expletive] the Jews,’ flag burning and other acts that desecrated one of our national icons and brought international condemnation upon Australia.”
Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas have agreed to a hostage release deal, according to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump is expecting the hostages to be released by Oct. 13.
