An Australian intelligence chief has urged leaders to safeguard social cohesion amid bloodshed in the Middle East, warning that “inflamed language” may fuel community tensions.
The head of Asio, Mike Burgess, issued a rare public statement to say Australia’s terrorism threat level had not increased, but his agency was “concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning”.
The statement also included a plea for community harmony, with Burgess saying that “words matter”. He urged “all parties consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements”.
The public intervention comes amid an increasingly heated public debate in Australia after antisemitic chants were made by some people attending pro-Palestine rallies this week. The chants have been condemned by politicians from across the political spectrum.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, falsely suggested on Wednesday that Anthony Albanese had not recognised or condemned antisemitism – even though the prime minister had done so multiple times since Monday.
On Thursday morning, Dutton told 2GB: “If there were people there [at the rallies] who were on visas, they should be identified and have their visas cancelled. They should be deported.”
Burgess did not name any individuals in his statement on Thursday afternoon, but said tensions in the Middle East were “resonating in the Australian community”.
The Asio chief said protests, rallies and associated activities were “expected to continue” and were “likely to feature strong emotive claims”.
“I remain concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning. However, it is important to distinguish opportunistic violence from planned violence or acts of terrorism,” Burgess said.
“Asio is carefully monitoring the situation for any indications of planned violence and were we to see any, we would respond accordingly, along with our law enforcement partners.”
Burgess added: “In this context, it is important that all parties consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements. As I have said previously, words matter. Asio has seen direct connections between inflamed language and inflamed community tensions.”
He said that agency was “not interested in those who are engaged in lawful protest, but rather the small subset of protesters who may wish to escalate protest to violence”.
That subset “includes religiously motivated and ideologically motivated extremists, or anyone who believes that violence is a means to further their own interests”.
Albanese said the Asio statement highlighted the need for “moderation in language”.
“We are a great multicultural nation,” the prime minister told reporters in Perth.
“It’s important that people, including people in public life, are non-inflammatory in their language which is used at this difficult time.”
Dutton’s call for visa cancellations for some protesters has concerned some on the grounds it could contribute to the demonisation of Palestinian Australians and interferes with rights to free assembly and freedom of speech.
Neha Madhok, national director of at racial justice organisation Democracy in Colour, said threatening protesters with deportation was “outrageous” and noted that everyone had the right to protest in Australia.
“Right now it is important to de-escalate tensions, not inflame them,” Madhok said.
But Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, backed the call.
“Of course they should be [cancelled],” he told Guardian Australia.
“Obviously you can’t deport Australian citizens, but if you have people on temporary visas waving Isis flags, yes, they should be deported. Is it even a debate? If they’d robbed a bank, they would be deported.”
Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza in the coming days, in response to Saturday’s attacks by Hamas which have killed 1,200 Israelis. Israel believes Hamas is holding about 150 Israeli hostages inside Gaza.
The death toll in Gaza has risen to 1,200, with about 5,600 wounded, amid ongoing Israeli strikes, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Gaza’s sole power station has run out of fuel amid a tightening siege, sparking particular concerns for its hospitals.
The Australian government indicated on Thursday it was planning a third repatriation flight from Israel, anticipating “quite large demand” to flee a conflict with ramifications for “months or years to come”. The Department and Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement it was supporting more than 1,500 registered Australians, although not all wished to leave.
The former Liberal prime minister John Howard has been among the critics of Labor’s response to the unfolding events in the Middle East.
In a front-page article in the Australian newspaper on Wednesday, Howard accused Labor of “pussyfooting and lukewarm condemnation”.
He said: “How can you remain calm when demonstrators are invoking the memory of the Holocaust? People remain calm in that?
“We need leadership from the top; we aren’t getting that at the moment.”
Albanese has repeatedly criticised the Hamas attacks on Israel and asserted the country’s right to defend itself.
On Tuesday, Albanese also condemned the “appalling” chants said at the rally outside the Opera House and repeated that there was “no place for antisemitism in this country or, indeed, anywhere else”.
“We need to fight racism wherever we see it, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, some of the racially charged comments that have been made against Indigenous Australians during this referendum,” Albanese said on Tuesday.
A planned pro-Palestine march through the streets of Sydney on Sunday has been scrapped in favour of a “static demonstration” at Hyde Park after the premier, Chris Minns, vowed to stop any marches.
Australia’s national terrorism threat level remains at “possible”, where it has been since November last year. At that time the threat level was lowered after eight years as “probable”.
