Joint ECAJ-NSWBoD statement.

The CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Michele Goldman, and the Head of Legal of the ECAJ have issued the following joint statement after the con­clu­sion of pro­ceed­ings in the NSW Court of Appeal earlier today con­cern­ing the proposed protest at Sydney Opera House on October 12.

“The right to engage in public protest is fun­da­ment­al but not unlimited. Like all rights it has to be balanced against the equally fun­da­ment­al rights of other people. The first major Gaza protest took place at the forecourt of the Opera House two days after the Hamas atro­cit­ies against Israel on 7 October 2023. The protest became notorious for its chants of “f… the Jews”, flag burning and other acts that desec­rated one of our national icons and brought inter­na­tion­al con­dem­na­tion upon Australia.”

“This protest set the tone for far too many others that have followed. They have taken over major public spaces on a weekly basis and made them no-go areas for Jewish Aus­trali­ans or any other Aus­trali­ans who disagree with the views of the pro­test­ers. No citizens should be subjected to these kinds of restric­tions on their freedom and should be able to go about their daily lives anywhere in public without facing threats, har­ass­ment or intim­id­a­tion.”

“Despite this, at no time in the two years since the Hamas atro­cit­ies in Israel sparked the current war, have we sought to legally challenge a proposed march or alter its route. Even now, we are not attempt­ing to stop people from protest­ing. But the protest organ­isers’ cal­cu­lated decision to locate this latest protest at the Sydney Opera House, and to time it within days of the raw emotions evoked by the anniversary of the 7 October atro­cit­ies and the 9 October riotous scenes, is callous and rep­re­hens­ible.”

“This is all the more reason why the Court was right not to authorise the protest to take over the Opera House precinct and risk repeating the dis­grace­ful scenes of two years ago. Our community feels relieved and vin­dic­ated by this decision, and we know from the many messages of support we have received from the wider community that many others share this view.”