Fresh delay in decision on pro-Palestine rally at Sydney Opera House just days from event

Police must wait to find out if they can block a pro-Palestine rally at the Sydney Opera House, just days out from the planned demonstration. A march is planned to take place from Hyde Park to the Opera House on Sunday and comes weeks after a failed legal battle over a similar march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. NSW Police is trying to block the Palestine Action Group (PAG) protest over concerns the iconic venue’s forecourt will not be able to hold the large crowd estimated to span between 10,000 and 100,000. A hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday morning hit a snag when both parties pushed for the matter to be moved to the Court of Appeal, citing constitutional issues that required the input of several Attorneys-General. The likelihood of an appeal being launched following a decision on Tuesday’s hearing was also raised as grounds to have the matter moved to the Court of Appeal. Justice Ian Harrison said this was a matter of urgency given the protest is slated for Sunday, but ultimately granted the application. “You’d have to live in a vacuum not to be aware of the significant public importance of these proceedings to all members of the community,” Justice Harrison said. The case will now heard in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday morning. Asked on Tuesday whether he backed the decision by police to oppose the Form 1, NSW Premier Chris Minns said “I think they’ve made the right call there. “They’ve done it on safety grounds and you know the police are in a very difficult position here. “They’re tasked with keeping a big city like Sydney safe for everybody that wants to use it. “The number of people that could attend a protest like that is very difficult to quantify, but it could be in the thousands and you’d have to appreciate that it’s on a narrow peninsula and if they get this wrong and there’s safety, security, a crowd crush issue then obviously all fingers will be pointed at the police, so I back them 100 per cent on this.” Mr Minns claimed police had worked with protest organisers on an alternative route in the city. “I understand that’s not where they want to go. They want to use the Opera House Forecourt to stage their protest,” he said. “I’m hoping they’ll be reasonable. Recent history has indicated that they probably won’t be and therefore it needs to be with the court, but I think the cops have made the right call here.” The Premier was staunchly opposed to an earlier pro-Palestine protest across Sydney Harbour Bridge, but has so far ruled out introducing legislation against protests at major landmarks citing potential constitutional challenges. Jewish groups expected to intervene in court case The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies is expected to intervene, with a legal representative on Tuesday telling the court members of the Jewish community would experience “unrest and fear” following the previous rally outside the venue on October 9, 2023. The Opera House was the target of pro-Palestine protests in the days after Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel. PAG organiser Damian Ridgwell said the group’s legal team believed a formal finding of Israel committing genocide was “pertinent to this case” while speaking outside court. “Israel is committing a genocide, because it highlights why it’s so urgent and imperative that the community’s right to demonstrate against that genocide be upheld,” Mr Ridgwell said. A UN Commission said Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in September this year, and the Israeli government have repeatedly denied claims of genocide. Mr Ridgwell also rejected claims the protest would be “unsafe” during a press conference outside court ahead of a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. “We have held over 100 demonstrations which have been peaceful and safe and have involved hundreds of thousands of people over the last two years,” Mr Ridgwell said. “Our demonstration will be a mass peaceful gathering of people who are rejecting war and occupation, rejecting the racism and the genocide of the Israeli state and upholding the rights of the Palestinian people.” The group have been protesting at Hyde Park nearly every week since the war broke out in 2023, following Hamas’ attack which killed 1200 people and the subsequent conflict. Mr Ridgwell said the Opera House had hosted political protests over the years as well as the 1996 Crowded House concert that was estimated to have attracted more than 100,000 people. He estimated about 10,000 people would attend the demonstration, but that contingency plans would be made should there be a similar turnout to at the Harbour Bridge protest. Jews Against the Occupation ’48 member Michelle Berkon similarly echoed that organisers had the capacity for a safe protest, referencing large crowds in the area on New Year’s Eve and during Vivid. “We are insisting on our right, a democratic right to claim iconic Australian landmarks as our own, to show that Australians in general do not support genocide. We don’t support any of Israel’s actions, we have a right to show the world,” Ms Berkon said. Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas, who sustained an eye injury during an arrest at a pro-Palestinian rally, was among a group of protesters at the court ahead of the hearing. Justice Desmond Fagan earlier told a court that he understood why protesters would choose the iconic venue, but it was “problematic”. “I’d expect the numbers to be enormous because there is an enormous amount of feeling about this issue in the community, an enormous amount of distress … seeing daily pictures of the cruelty that is being carried out and the destruction,” Justice Fagan said on Friday. “The community widely is highly inflamed about what they are learning and what is taking place in Gaza. “I understand what the purpose would be, but this is problematic, this venue.” Lawyers fronted media outside the court following the adjournment. “If the police application is exceeded to, the ramifications for the right to protest in Australia will not be confined to the Opera House, but for a wide variety of protest activities,” lawyer Nick Hanna said. “Whilst this protest in particular is about Israel genocide in Gaza, the consequences of this case will be worn by a wide variety of groups. “Covid, Black Lives Matter, immigration, whatever your cause, your right to protest will be potentially affected by the outcome.”