Protesters beaten, arrested as Herzog visit continues
The Israeli president will continue his tour of Australia after a protest against his visit, attended by thousands of people, turned into chaos.
Protesters who gathered at Sydney City Hall to speak out against Isaac Herzog, who arrived in the port city on Monday, were pepper-sprayed, arrested, beaten and pushed by police.
Organizers had hoped to march in the city, but a court ruling upholding police power to restrict protests scuttled the plans.
As the show ended, the group moved towards the exit; While some tried to leave, others called on hundreds of police officers in the area to allow the march.
Although there was an exit towards the south side of the block through which some could leak out across much of the mouth of the square, police restricted movement and did not allow people to walk, leaving the large group in a stalemate.
Protesters’ chants soon grew louder and the police presence increased.
Officers issued a movement order, but many in the dense, crowded crowd were unsure of direction and the situation quickly changed.
Foot and horse police formed a front and attacked the protesters who tried to disperse the group.
Others were seen pepper-spraying and beating participants, and at one point a group of Muslim men praying were torn from their knees and taken away by police.
Members of the media, including photographers and those whose press passes were displayed, were forcibly removed from the scene by police officers.
The streets were filled with medics kneeling on pepper-spraying protesters, pouring water into their eyes and cutting off phlegm.
“Instead of respecting the rights of the 50,000 people who came to express their anger at our government celebrating someone accused of inciting genocide, police resorted to unprecedented violent repression,” Palestine Action Group Sydney wrote in a social media post.
Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for assaulting officers.
Before the chaos, the crowd stood and chanted peacefully amid speeches from the likes of former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Jewish academic Antony Loewenstein and Amnesty International Australia spokesman Mohamed Duar.
Protests in Australia’s other major cities were also well attended, as participants spoke out against Israel’s bombing and starvation of Gaza – which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians – and condemned photos of Mr Herzog signing a cannonball to be fired into the occupied territory.
Mr Herzog was invited to Australia by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the mass shooting in Bondi in mid-December.
He visited the scene of the terrorist attack on Monday and is preparing to attend more community events on Tuesday.
Asked if AAP had a message for the protesters, it claimed that the demonstrations were “undermining and delegitimizing” Israel’s existence.
He previously said Palestinians bore collective blame for Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, before later walking back the remarks.
The United Nations Human Rights Council commission of inquiry in September found that this statement could reasonably be interpreted as incitement to genocide.
The federal government said Mr. Herzog’s visit would provide relief to the Jewish community.
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