Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns have announced plans for sweeping legislation that would expand powers to ban anti-genocide demonstrations and criminalize so-called “hate” or “divisive” speech, effectively targeting any condemnation of the Israeli regime.
The move follows repeated attempts to equate opposition to the Israeli regime’s criminal actions with antisemitism, despite widespread participation by Jewish protesters in anti-genocide demonstrations in Australia and globally.
Minns said the NSW state parliament would be recalled next Monday for an emergency session to pass legislation, yet to be drafted, to outlaw protests that could “add to community disharmony” and to impose new limits on firearms ownership for licensed shooters.
The proposed gun law changes are also being considered nationally and appear aimed at deflecting attention from the 2023 decision by NSW police to grant alleged Bondi Beach shooter Sajid Akram a license for six firearms.
The license was issued four years after the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) reportedly investigated his son Naveed Akram over ties to extremist groups linked to ISIS.
Father and son used four of these weapons to kill 15 people and injured more than 40 at the “Chanukah by the Sea” event, marking the start of the eight-day Rabbinic Jewish festival.
Sajid Akram was killed by police, while Naveed Akram survived and remains under police guard in hospital. He was charged yesterday with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act.
Minns’ proposals aim to suppress not only anti-genocide opposition but any political dissent deemed threatening by authorities. The NSW premier said the laws would allow the police commissioner to reject protest applications “on the grounds it will both stretch police resources and, secondly, add to community disharmony and as a result, a combustible situation in the state.”
Separately, organizers of an anti-Israel rally planned for Melbourne’s CBD this weekend have cancelled the event but plan to rally later in the week, while protests calling for the Albanese government to be dismissed continue.
Campaigners have warned that police are not protecting Jews by targeting protesters who legitimately oppose the Israeli regime’s war crimes.
Jewish Voice for Liberation (JVL) criticized the Met and Greater Manchester police for threatening to arrest protesters chanting “globalize the intifada.”
Defending ongoing peace marches across Britain since the start of the Israeli regime’s war in Gaza, JVL said the chant “is not one regularly heard at the mass London demonstrations” and “if it is used as a taunt to individuals or groups of Jews it may amount to harassment, but otherwise it should be accepted as what it literally means — a call to make resistance to Israeli crimes global.”
JVL added that the Jewish Bloc has consistently challenged antisemitism when encountered but rarely finds it at demonstrations.
The group also criticized attempts to equate pro-Palestine activism with antisemitic hate crimes, stating that “legitimate peaceful protest” should not be confused with illegal activity.
“It unfairly casts doubt on the intent of those, including the substantial Jewish Bloc, expressing their horror at the continuing genocide in Gaza and the complicity of our government in it,” JVL said.
Hours after police announcements by Sir Mark Rowley and Sir Stephen Watson, the Met detained two people for alleged racially aggravated public order offences for “slogans involving call for intifada.”
Dozens of protesters were also removed by police at a central London demonstration organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supporting Palestine Action activists on hunger strike while awaiting trial.