Greens condemn crackdown on peaceful pro-Palestinian protestors in Port Botany

Last night hundreds of pro-Palestinian trade unionists, activists and community members gathered in Port Botany to protest the unloading of a vessel owned by the Israeli shipping line ZIM. The peaceful sit-in was the latest in seven weeks of community actions in support of Palestine, where more than 13,000 people have been killed and thousands more injured or missing as a result of unfettered, genocidal military aggression by the Israeli Defence Force.

Shamefully, this peaceful act of protest was met with unprovoked and unbridled aggression at the hands of the NSW Police Force. Mounted Police were deployed into the crowd - which included children and elderly Palestinian community members - to forcibly disperse those exercising their rights to free assembly and speech. What ensued was a crowd crush and panic that saw multiple protestors injured and others left scrambling for their immediate safety. Footage and images of the action show police violently handling people and pulling them from the crowd.

Violence against peaceful protestors can never be justified - and must never be tolerated. Yet rather than condemn this aggression the Minister for Police has this morning shamefully lauded it, saying: “The NSW Police set parameters and they did a great job keeping our streets safe last night.”

The right to assemble and peacefully protest is a core tenet of any functional democracy that must be cherished and protected. The draconian anti-protest laws that were supported by the NSW Labor and Liberal parties threaten this right and impose harsh penalties including up to two years’ imprisonment for peaceful protest. We understand that twenty-three people at last night’s action have been arrested and charged under these laws.

The Greens stand in solidarity with all those who took peaceful action at Port Botany last night and thank them for their courage and moral clarity in the face of genocide and Israel’s violent occupation in Palestine. We stand with the millions rising up across the globe in solidarity with Palestine and declare that business as usual cannot continue while the situation in Gaza deteriorates, aided and abetted by Western governments including our own. Free Palestine. Ceasefire now.