Premier: People Have the Right to Protest and Grieve

PUBLIC STATEMENT

Premier: People Have the Right to Protest and Grieve

Today’s announcement by NSW Premier Chris Minns regarding the intention to make it easier for police to object to protest marches due to their impact on police resources is deeply disappointing and unacceptable. The Premier cited the weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations as a strain on police, noting that officers have been diverted from other duties and that $5.4 million has been spent on policing these protests between January and September of this year.

This comes at a time when the world is witnessing a genocide being committed by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people and, more recently, the Lebanese people. In the past year alone, the Israeli Occupation Forces carried out 3,654 massacres, resulting in a death toll above 42,000 people. Their savagery has seen them spread their war crimes to Lebanon, where more than 2,000 have been killed and over one million displaced in just two weeks.

The pro-Palestine protests in Sydney and across Australia have been nothing short of examples of peaceful demonstrations where organisers have shown on multiple occasions their willingness and cooperation to work with the NSW police and law enforcement to ensure the safety of everyone. The NSW Premier’s attempt to impose restrictions on these protests infringes upon the fundamental rights of Australian citizens to express their opinions and feelings and gather peacefully. These protesters have given hope to those, the people of Gaza, who feel abandoned by world leaders and complicit actors in this ongoing genocide and series of war crimes. Any attempt to block or suppress these protests risks serious repercussions and could contribute to the destabilisation of social cohesion in our society.

We urge the NSW Premier Chris Minns to show empathy and support for the Palestinian people and their supporters in NSW. We also call on him to convey his condolences to the mourning and grieving community, who have lost over 42,000 brothers and sisters in faith and humanity in Palestine and Lebanon.

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