Anti-Israel rally to challenge new NSW law banning protests in aftermath of Bondi massacre

Anti-Israel activists are planning a mass rally in Sydney in the biggest challenge to new protest bans introduced in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attacks, with police preparing to arm riot squad officers with long-arm rifles as part of a strong presence.

The Stop the War on Palestine group is holding a Friday night gathering to demonstrate against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, with support from Labor for Palestine and The Greens.

Demonstrators are bracing to be charged if they block the footpath outside Town Hall but a criminal lawyer providing legal advice to left-wing activists says they won’t be prosecuted if they wave placards with the phrase, “globalise the intifada” despite the connotations with terrorist attacks in Israel.

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon was given the power to ban protests in rolling two-week blocks, over three months, after new laws were rushed through a recalled State Parliament two days before Christmas, following Australia’s worst ever terrorist attack at Bondi on December 14.

Bans on marching protests are still in force but Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said demonstrators were allowed to stand still and refrain from blocking roads and pedestrians and displaying “inflammatory” hate speech signs.

“People can still have free speech. People can still gather in a park or somewhere that they’re not impeding people and have free speech as they’ve always been able to do,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“They obviously can’t do hate speech or anything else that would be committing an offence under the current legislation.

“It’s just time to bring that community tension down. Just to understand that whilst our job is about public safety, it’s also about public cohesion. Just calm down.”

A “high visibility” police presence is expected, with law officers having access to long-arm rifles and new powers to disperse crowds.

“People who are gathering for any type of public assembly, know that there will still be a strong police presence there,” Mr McKenna said.

“We’ll have a few hundred police ready to go tomorrow and we can surge and pivot resources from anywhere if we need to.

“There may well be police with long arms just because of the current threat environment.”

Protesters are being advised they could be charged with failing to comply with a police direction to move on, with criminal lawyer Nick Hanna holding a seminar on Thursday night as the legal representative for Palestine Action Group and Jews Against The Occupation, who are challenging the state’s new protest laws.

“My advice would be if police issue people with move on directions, then they should expect to be charged if they don’t comply with that direction,” he told The Nightly.

Placards with the words “globalise the intifada” are yet to be criminalised with a NSW parliamentary committee examining which phrases to ban ahead of a February 11 vote.

“The legality of the phrase hasn’t been tested in any Australian court,” Mr Hanna said.

“There’s largely a consensus amongst criminal lawyers that under the current law, that expression is not criminalised — some people might not like that expression, some people might be offended by that expression, some people might feel uncomfortable about that expression but it’s not a criminal offence.”

John Menadue, a former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under 1970s Labor PM Gough Whitlam, spent $27,500 placing an advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald opposing President Herzog’s visit.

“The invitation to the President of Israel as head of a state responsible for genocidal acts is immoral and wrong,” his advertisement said under the headline, “Australians for Humanity” with backing from former Labor minister Margaret Reynolds, former SBS newsreader Mary Kostakidis, the Muslim Votes Group and former ambassador Richard Broinowski.

Labor Friends of Palestine and the Greens are supporting Mr Menadue’s campaign and the Friday protests.

Stop the War on Palestine last week encouraged activists to turn up and stand still and disobey police orders to move on.

“Static protests are still legal. Being at a protest is no grounds for police to give a ‘move-on’ order to any individual,” it said on Instagram.

NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, said the protest should not be allowed to go ahead.

“I hope NSW police and NSW authorities do not allow it to go ahead,” he told Sky News on Wednesday night.

A separate protest is planned for Saturday against Indigenous deaths in custody to mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of David Dungay Jr in Sydney’s Long Bay jail.

Commissioner Lanyon is reviewing the protest ban again on January 20, ahead of expected rallies against Australia Day on January 26.