Clashes as protests shadow Israeli president’s visit to Australia

Large crowds assembled at Sydney Town Hall, where officers blocked protesters from marching along routes near the president’s movements, warning that any attempt to proceed would be deemed unlawful, as reported by Middle East Eye via AFP on February 9th.

Tensions escalated as demonstrators chanted and beat drums while attempting to move toward the New South Wales Parliament. Scuffles broke out when police prevented protesters from crossing barricades, with officers deploying pepper spray and forcibly pushing crowds back. Authorities had declared the area between Town Hall and Parliament a restricted security zone during Herzog’s visit, leaving participants facing arrest if they joined the planned march.

Anthony D’Adam, a Labor member of parliament who witnessed the confrontation, criticised the police response as excessive. He said he saw officers punching demonstrators and throwing one person to the ground. Speaking to The Guardian Australia, D’Adam alleged that a police officer pushed a bicycle into a woman, injuring her, before another officer shoved her into the surrounding crowd.

A Sydney court had earlier rejected a legal challenge from the Palestine Action Group seeking to overturn the protest restrictions. Police also arrested a man who shouted “shame” as Herzog departed Bondi Pavilion, citing the Major Events Act — legislation currently being challenged in the Supreme Court.

The demonstrations were fuelled by Herzog’s past comments on Gaza. Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on southern Israel, the Israeli president said the Palestinian population bore collective responsibility — remarks later condemned by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry as constituting incitement to genocide.

Herzog began his four-day visit at Bondi Beach, laying a wreath at a memorial commemorating the December attack during a Hanukkah celebration that killed 15 people. He also met survivors and relatives of those killed before continuing to Melbourne and Canberra, where authorities planned extensive security deployments involving thousands of police officers.

Middle East Eye via AFP, Maghrebi.org