Shocking videos have emerged from Sydney’s protests against Israeli President Isaac Herzog‘s visit, including one of a police officer punching a man with his hands up. Dozens of witnesses describe officers rushing the crowd, using batons, and spraying pepper spray at close range as protesters tried to exit the scene.
Police arrested 27 protesters, including 10 for allegedly assaulting police. The Greens have slammed police action last night as “corporal punishment against a peaceful community”.
The Monday night gathering was part of a nationwide protest against Herzog’s Australian visit. Sydneysiders showed up despite a court decision upheld NSW Police powers to block any march from the square through the CBD under a Public Assembly Restriction Declaration and the Major Events Act.
Organisers had planned to move through the city but instead found themselves largely confined to the Town Hall block, with police on foot and horseback surrounding the area.
As speeches wrapped up and some protesters tried to leave or push for a march, officers issued move‑on directions to the tightly packed crowd, though many people said they couldn’t hear or see where they were supposed to go before police surged forward.
Witnesses and footage from the scene show officers rushing into the crowd, using batons and OC spray at close range as people screamed and scrambled to get away, with medics treating those coughing and retching on George Street.
NSW Police defended their actions in a statement that said “the crowd were issued a number of directions by police to disperse in accordance with the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) and Major Events Act”.
“When participants failed to comply, officers moved to disperse the crowd, including anyone who had stopped and was blocking pedestrian access,” the statement continued.
“A number of scuffles broke out with 27 people arrested, including 10 for assault police, and are being dealt with by officers.
“Paramedics treated a number of participants after OC spray was deployed. There have not been any reports of serious injuries.”
Premier and police defend the operation
NSW Premier Chris Minns said police did “everything possible” to avoid clashes, including days of negotiations with Palestine Action Group to have the protest and march at Hyde Park and down College Street. He defended officers on the ground, telling ABC Radio Sydney they had to make tactical calls in a “difficult situation”.
“The circumstances are difficult for the police, who are trying to keep the public and public safe.”
Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said he was not going to judge individual officers because he “saw what they were up against” at Town Hall.
He told ABC Radio Sydney that police had shown restraint “for not minutes, not seconds, but I would say up to over an hour” before moving to disperse the crowd, and that “what happened last night was one of the most precarious, volatile situations I have seen”.
He said “the level of aggression and violence by the crowd was palpable” and that “police didn’t go out there looking for fights, police didn’t go out there looking for violence, but that happened tonight”.
McKenna said it was important to see social media clips in context. “I can understand, one video in particular, it might even be offensive to people, but I will say this: please understand they are small videos being put up and I would say out of context of what was a rolling melee of violence and un‑Australian and inappropriate behaviour tonight,” he said.
“Any type of powers were utilised because we kept trying to do it peacefully, until it became violent. As you said, the police had to react.”
On footage of officers grabbing Muslim men who were praying outside Town Hall, he said: “If their decisions were right wrong or otherwise, I’m not going to sit here and judge them this morning, because I saw what they were up against last night.”
Claims of “corporal punishment” and state violence
Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson condemned the operation, saying it amounted to “summary physical punishment against legitimate and peaceful protest”. She called it “corporal punishment against a peaceful community” driven by the “inflammatory actions” of NSW Premier Chris Minns, and said she would refer the “wildly inappropriate” conduct to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
“A lawful and peaceful public assembly was set upon with state violence because arbitrary and excessive special powers were granted to the police, via a rushed regulation made on a Saturday, with no good cause and in defiance [of] our implied constitutional rights to engage in political expression,” Higginson said.
“We saw people of the Muslim faith who were praying set upon, dragged, assaulted and thrown to the ground. We saw dozens of armed police charging at peaceful members of our community.
“Charging horses, chemical weapons, unprovoked assault and severe police violence. These should never be the tools of law enforcement and their presence on Sydney streets must be a wake‑up call to all of us.”
NSW Labor backbencher Anthony D’Adam, who attended the rally, said in a social media post that he “personally witnessed disgusting and excessive police violence which needs to be investigated”.
He told Guardian Australia he saw an officer push his bike into a woman and “clearly hurt her”, and that when she became angry another officer pushed her back into the crowd, where bystanders fell, were “shocked and angry” and started yelling. “That then resulted in a number of other officers joining the fray,” D’Adam said.
“They grabbed someone and threw them on to the ground,” he alleged and that “it just seemed totally over‑the‑top in terms of the police reaction”. He said that if the government he is part of had simply allowed protesters to march up George Street, “it would not have happened”.
In a post after the rally, Palestine Action Group Sydney said that “instead of respecting the right of 50,000 people who turned up to express their outrage against our government celebrating someone accused of inciting genocide, the police resorted to unleashing unseen violent repression”. Earlier in the evening, protesters had listened to speeches from figures including former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Jewish writer Antony Loewenstein and Amnesty International Australia spokesperson Mohamed Duar.
Herzog is in Australia at the invitation of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the Bondi terror attack late last year, with the federal government saying his visit would provide comfort to the Jewish community. A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which Israel has rejected, has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and said Herzog and other senior leaders had “incited the commission of genocide” in some public remarks, claims he strongly denies.
Protests are expected to continue in Sydney and other cities during Herzog’s visit, with community groups, unions and human rights organisations calling for an end to Australian support for Israel’s military campaign.
Lead image: Instagram / David Shoebridge / Getty
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