Australia’s Islamophobia envoy, Aftab Malik, has called for a public apology and investigation into how New South Wales Police handled a pro-Palestine demonstration in Sydney this week, after officers were filmed pulling Muslim men from prayer during the rally.
Footage from Monday night’s protest outside Sydney Town Hall, shared widely on social media including by Greens senator David Shoebridge, showed several Muslim men kneeling in prayer as police approached and physically removed them. The demonstration coincided with the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog, which drew thousands of protesters across the CBD despite a court decision limiting the right to march.
Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night, Malik said what happened “was simply unacceptable” and urged NSW Police to take responsibility. “The police need to come out with a public apology. There needs to be an investigation,” he said. “There are some red lines, and that was crossed last night.” Malik added that people caught in the confrontation were “scared” and “in a vulnerable state” while praying.
The incident has triggered widespread condemnation from Muslim community leaders and civil rights advocates. More than 100 Muslim organisations — including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Lebanese Muslim Association, and Islamophobia Register Australia — signed a joint statement saying the use of force set a “dangerous precedent” for policing Muslim religious expression.
“There was absolutely nothing on the face of the earth that could warrant police to break up people who are praying in a quiet, non-threatening, peaceful manner,” Malik told SBS News. “The police have to acknowledge that what happened was unprovoked, unnecessary and disproportionate.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns has defended the police response, saying officers were placed in “an incredibly difficult situation” and emphasised that police were not targeting any particular group. “Context is important,” Minns said during a press conference. “It was, in effect, in the middle of a riot.”
NSW Police assistant commissioner Peter McKenna echoed that defence, claiming the viral footage was “taken out of context” and that officers were “involved in violent confrontations throughout the night over a number of hours”.
But community leaders and witnesses described the police actions as excessive. “At a time when social cohesion is so important, this has taken us backwards,” a spokesperson for the Lebanese Muslim Association said.
The incident has also drawn criticism from within the Labor Party itself. The Labor Friends of Palestine group wrote to NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley calling the police behaviour “completely unwarranted and utterly reprehensible”, and demanded an independent investigation.
Greens MP Sue Higginson, who attended the rally on Monday, has said in a statement she’ll be “referring the actions of the NSW Police to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, to make it clear that the orders to commit violence against the community were wild inappropriate”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose government appointed Malik to the envoy role in 2024, said the footage was “devastating” but called for calm. “People should be able to express their views peacefully,” he told Triple M Hobart.
Protests are expected to continue across the country throughout Herzog’s visit, as community anger grows over both the use of police force and government restrictions on public demonstrations.
Lead image: Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia / Instagram @beastfromthe_middleeast
The post Islamophobia Envoy Demands Police Apologise Over Actions At Sydney’s Anti-Herzog Rally appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
