Thousands of Australians are expected to take part in demonstrations across the country on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel.
Hamas terrorists invaded the Jewish state and slaughtered 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped another 240 on this day last year, sparking months of violent conflict in the Middle East.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the deadly conflict that followed October 7.
A vigil will be held in Sydney‘s Town Hall on Monday by pro-Palestinian supporters, along with a rally at the Lakemba Mosque later in the evening.
A vigil was also held in Canberra outside Parliament House, with the Sydney Jewish community to hold an event in the eastern suburbs on Monday night.
Thousands attended protests on Sunday ahead of the anniversary.
Follow Daily Mail Australia’s live coverage of the October 7 demonstrations here.
Crowds building at Lakemba Mosque
A large crowd of Sydneysiders have gathered outside Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s south-west for a Stand For Palestine rally, which got underway at 5.30pm.
Many attendees arrived holding Palestinian flags as police keep a watchful presence.
The rally started with chants of ‘to the river to the sea, Israel kills refugees’and ‘October 7 is not the beginning’.
Rally organisers reminded the crowd that tonight’s event is a not a ‘dynamic march’ but a ‘static protest, static demonstration’.
The crowd was told that ‘we are the victims’
‘Muslims are no longer the bad guys, and anyone with eyes can see that’ Ahmed Bassal said.
‘They even came up with a specific word to describe us, the T word… terrorist.
‘Anyone else can commit any crime, any crime, up to the genocide of another people and this world will never be used for them.
‘We are the victims of that violence for 75 years and now the world can see it.’
Terrorist group Hezbollah praises Australian October 7 protests that kicked off around the country on Sunday
Islamist terrorist organisation Hezbollah has praised Australia’s October 7 anniversary protests after thousands of supporters took to the streets on Sunday.
The militant group shared two photos from the Sydney protest on its official English-language Telegram channel, writing: ‘From Australia to the world: Stop the ‘Israeli’ Aggression on Lebanon.’
Jewish groups have widely condemned the demonstrations, where despite warnings from police and politicians to not brandish the Hezbollah flag, protesters in Sydney and Melbourne waved flags that bore a similar colour scheme and imagery to the terrorist group.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Alex Ryvchin said the flag bearers should be investigated for the possible infringement of counter-terrorism laws.
‘The laws are drafted in a way that it precludes the public support for terrorism. It’s never quite been tested what that really means,’ he told media on Monday.
‘Whether these variations would (be in breach) is questionable, but I think certainly, at least from a counter-terrorism and a security point of view, these people need to be closely examined.’
However, NSW Police said it had received legal advice that the act would not constitute a criminal offence.
Mr Ryvchin said that while the peak body would never oppose the right of Australians to assemble and protest, pro-Palestine groups should have avoided the anniversary of the October 7 attacks and acknowledged the date as a ‘day of mourning and commemoration’ for the Jewish community.
‘We knew that this was an idle request on our part. They would never hear that. They would never listen,’ he said.
‘As I said, when you’re dealing with fanatics, the only form of protest they understand to provoke divide, to inflame.’
On the weekend, about 10,000 protesters attended the Sydney march, where a 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly displaying a swastika symbol.
He has since been charged with knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public without a reasonable excuse, which carries a maximum penalty of an $11,000 fine or 12 months’ jail if convicted.
About 7,000 protesters also attended a rally in Melbourne’s CBD where police made four arrests.
‘Every life counts’
A speaker from the Lebanese Muslim Association told crowds at Lakemba Mosque that it was “unacceptable” for Western governments to “arm Israel” while calling for a ceasefire.
“Innocent families are being torn apart, homes destroyed and entire generations wiped out, yet the world stands silent – in some cases, complicit,” he said.
“As we mark October the seventh, it is unacceptable that while the people of Palestine and Lebanon are being killed and displaced, Western governments continue to arm Israel on one hand while calling for a ceasefire on the other
“This is a gross contradiction that cannot go unchallenged anymore.”
He asked how the government can remain silent while “women, children, entire families are destroyed”.
He also called out politicians for attending vigils, while noting he mourns the lives lost on October 7.
“The irony of our political leaders is not lost on us. Today, they are clamouring over each other to attend the vigil in the eastern suburbs today,” he said.
“Like them, we mourn the innocent lives of all that have been lost on the seventh of October.
“But unlike them – this is the important thing – unlike them, we want every single life that has been lost today, over 50,000 and counting.
“We do not believe in marginalising any community, neglecting their pain and suffering.
“Every innocent life matters. Palestinian lives matters. Lebanese life matters. The world should hold sacrosanct the sanctity of human life.
Woman, 82, charged over alleged threats to Sydney mosque
An elderly woman has been charged by police, accused of making threatening phone calls to a Sydney mosque.
NSW Police allege the Masjid Arrahman mosque in Kingsgrove in the city south’s received two calls last week- one on October 1 and the other three days later.
On Saturday, police attended a home in Five Dock where they spoke to a woman, 82, and issued her with a future court attendance notice for the offence of use carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
It’s alleged the woman told staff at the mosque that Australia “is for Israelis.’
She also allegedly told mosque leaders to “go back to your own country”, and also called them “c—s”, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The woman will appear in Bankstown Local Court on November 27.
Riot police are seen outside Sydney Town Hall on Monday afternoon ahead of a pro-Palestine vigil
NSW Police gather outside Sydney Cricket Ground for a briefing ahead of tonight’s protests
Hundreds of NSW Police officers were seen outside the Sydney Cricket Ground to be briefed ahead of protests and vigils on Monday night.
Police are expected to be monitoring three events in Sydney tonight, including a candlelit vigil at Town Hall by Palestine supporters, a protest at the Lakemba Mosque, and a vigil held by a Jewish group in Sydney’s east.
The Greens accuse the Australian government of being ‘complicit’ in the conflict in the Middle East
The Australian Greens party have released a statement condemning the actions of October 7 last year, while also using the chance to take a swipe at the Albanese government.
‘The Australian Greens mourn for those killed on October 7th 2023, as well as the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have lost their lives in a spiral of violence that started long before October 7th and has continued since, and continue to call for peace,’ the party said.
The Greens then took the opportunity to call out the ‘war crimes’ being committed by Israel.
‘The very same commitment to compassion, honesty, peace and justice required of us in response to those attacks of Hamas requires us as Greens to call out the war crimes and genocide that is being carried out by the State of Israel right now in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories and the bombing and invasion of Lebanon,’ the statement continued.
‘By refusing to support UN resolutions on Palestinian statehood, refusing to support South Africa’s International Court of Justice case on the genocide in Gaza, refusing to sanction the extremist Netanyahu government, by continuing to import Israeli weapons used on Palestinians and to export weapons parts including for the F-35 fighter jet to be used by the Israeli military, Australia is complicit in this appalling conflict,’ the statement read.
‘The Labor government must listen to the community and push for peace by recognising Palestine, sanctioning the extremist Netanyahu government, ending the two-way arms trade and pushing for a just and lasting peace for Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese.’
Former prime minister Tony Abbott and senators gather at Parliament House
Tony Abbott and a string of Liberal senators have gathered at a vigil in Canberra at Parliament House on Monday.
The vigil began with a prayer and the Australian national anthem.
Supporters were seen waving both Australian and Israeli flags for the vigil commemorating the lives lost on October 7.
Liberal senators Michaelia Cash, Jane Hume, Simon Birmingham and Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie were there, along with Independent Bob Katter.
Protesters from Christian group Never Again is Now gather during a rally against antisemitism at Parliament House in Canberra
Members of Australian Jewish communities gather in Sydney to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 attack
Dramatic scenes are captured from protests in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan urges protesters to ‘show some respect’ for the lives lost and end demonstrations
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has a message for pro-Palestine supporters planning to attend an October 7 protest at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance – don’t do it.
‘Today is very much a day of profound grief and trauma and deep, deep sadness for Victoria’s Jewish community,’ Ms Allan told reporters in Sunbury.
‘They are grieving, and have been grieving for a year now, for the single biggest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust.
‘Today is certainly not a day to add to that grief and trauma.
‘Don’t protest … show some respect, let’s choose love and support.’
Ms Allan also called on pro-Palestine supporters to move their planned protest away from the shrine, describing it as one of Victoria’s most sacred places.
The premier will join Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a formal commemoration for the Israeli victims of October 7 in Melbourne, organised by Zionism Victoria.
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto is also expected to attend.
Organisers of the Vigil for Palestine event say October 7 marks the first day that ‘Israel transformed Gaza from an ‘open air prison’ into a ‘graveyard for children’.
An overnight wake will follow the vigil, with a flag raising ceremony at 8am on Tuesday, that organisers say will symbolise their ‘unrelenting resistance to the Israeli occupation, oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people’
Those who attend have been warned not to speak to the media, and urged to wear all black and the keffiyeh, which represents the Palestinian liberation movement.
– Australian Associated Press
Jewish leader says there has been 1,800 incidents of antisemitism in Australia since October 7
The leader of Australia’s largest Jewish community organisation has called for ordinary Australians to fight the ‘hatred’ of what he has called rising antisemitism a year on from the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas.
Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said October 7 was a day Jewish people would ‘never forget’.
Since the attacks, over 1,800 incidents of antisemitism have been recorded in Australia – marking an increase of more than 300 per cent from the previous year’s numbers, he said.
‘Beyond the scale and sheer number of the atrocities, it is the scenes, the images which will stay with us forever,’ Mr Ryvchin said to a crowd in Sydney on Monday.
Mr Ryvchin referred to the death of 22-year-old Israeli tattoo artist Shani Louk, who was killed at the Nova music festival just as gunmen launched their attack, and the kidnapping of soldier Naama Levy from army observation post near the Gaza border.
‘We saw things on that day we never thought we’d see again,’ he said.
‘According to Jewish tradition, a year after an event of trauma and loss, we are compelled to cease our mourning.
‘But it’s impossible not to mourn, when 101 Israelis remain in that hell.’
Amid heightened tensions in Australia over conflict, Mr Ryvchin said it was ‘incumbent’ upon all Australians to ‘fight this hatred’.
‘It cannot be the Jewish community alone standing up to this,’ he said.
Jewish man holding an Australian flag at Sunday’s protest in Sydney is arrested
Osher Feldman was arrested for breaching the peace in Hyde Park in Sydney‘s CBD on Sunday, where 10,000 pro-Palestine supporters attended a rally.
He was filmed being escorted from the scene by police officers shortly after the protest wrapped up on the eve of the one year anniversary of the start of the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel.
Mr Feldman became visibly upset when his kippah fell off his head as he was led away to a police van surrounded by half a dozen officers, repeatedly saying ‘Where’s my cap, I need it on my head.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton share messages on the anniversary of October 7
Anthony Albanese has made a vow to Jewish Australians to never let history repeat itself as the country marks the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.
In a video statement, the Prime Minister reflected on the date, calling it ‘a day that carries terrible pain’.
‘On the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, we pause to reflect on the horrific terrorist atrocity that reverberated around the globe,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ actions on that day.
‘Innocent lives taken at a music festival, women, men and children killed in their homes, brutality that was inflicted with cold calculation.’
He said anti-Semitism had haunted the Jewish community over the past year.
‘Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day and as a nation, we say, never again,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith.’
Vigils have been taking place across Australia as people mourn those killed in the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
Peter Dutton said the date marked a ‘day of depravity’ in a social media post, warning that Hamas’ attacks ‘awoke and exposed an anti-Semitic rot afflicting Western democracies’.
‘Israel has every right to defend its territory and its people from existential threats,’ the Opposition Leader said.
He said the Coalition stood with Israel ‘rather than treating her like an adversary’, in a thinly veiled shot at the Albanese government, which has maintained calls for a ceasefire.
‘We support Australians of Jewish faith – because you are cherished Australian citizens,’ Mr Dutton said.
NSW Police on high alert ahead of a day of planned protests
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police would attend the vigil at Sydney’s Town Hall and a rally at Lakemba Mosque on Monday, and held concerns the protests could mushroom into something larger.
‘We can’t rule (that) out – we would always be concerned that there’d be interlopers, (and that) people will come in for the wrong reason,’ she said.
NSW Premier Chris Minns blasts October 7 protests as ‘grossly insensitive’
NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke out against the planned demonstrations on Monday.
‘I don’t think it is appropriate, that is my personal view,’ he said.
‘To hold a protest or a rally on a day when people were massacred on the other side of the world is grossly insensitive, in my opinion.’
Mr Minns also said the police would act on any vilification of the Jewish community.
‘We cannot allow a situation where permissive antisemitism creeps into the public dialogue because a certain group in our community believe that kind of racism is okay. It’s not okay,’ he said.
‘I want to make it clear that if there’s any breaches in protests, in public sermons, in speeches over this weekend, it will be met with very strict laws in Australia and in NSW in relation to hate speech.’
It is illegal in Australia to display symbols connected to a terrorist organisation or to display Nazi symbols like the swastika.
Palestine rallies are facing increased scrutiny after flags of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and framed pictures of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, began to appear at rallies last weekend.
Barnaby Joyce questions if protesters know what happens to the gay community under Hamas
Barnaby Joyce has blasted those who take part in pro-Palestinian rallies, claiming many are protesting just for the sake of it.
His comments came on the first anniversay of the October 7 attack on Israel, with Australia to see a string of protests across the country on Monday.
Speaking to Sunrise host Nat Barr, the Nationals MP said it was ‘ridiculous’ that certain groups were participating in the rallies.
‘Like, you know, people saying in the gay community supporting issues in Palestine or supporting Hamas, do they understand exactly what happens to people in the gay community under Hamas?’ Mr Joyce said on the breakfast show.
‘Do they comprehend exactly what they’re doing? And therefore, you pose the question, what is really behind this?’
Same-sex relationships are prohibited in Gaza
‘An understanding of the Palestinian situation, a real empathy. I’m absolutely certain there are people with that. Not a shadow of a doubt. I not for one second condoned them doing it on a day of this carnage that was inflicted by a terrorist group of musk,’ Mr Joyce continued.
‘But there are a lot of other people in there who are hangers on, and for them, that’s completely contemptible.’
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Pro-Palestine protests LIVE: Demonstrations to rock Sydney and Melbourne as activists mark October 7 anniversary