NSW Police will apply to the state’s Supreme Court to ban two planned pro-Palestinian rallies over the Labour Day long weekend in Sydney.
On Tuesday, NSW Police said in a statement it was aware of protests planned to be held in Sydney on Sunday and Monday.
It said officers from Operation Shelter — a NSW Police operation set up following pro-Palestinian rallies in October 2023 to coordinate police responses to protest activity — had conducted negotiations with protest organisers.
It said organisers had also submitted the required paperwork for each planned event, but that NSW Police was “not satisfied that the protest can proceed safely”.
“Accordingly, the commissioner has decided to apply to the NSW Supreme Court to prohibit the two assemblies,” the statement continued.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday that the rallies were organised by Palestine Action Group, a “Sydney-based activist organisation” that has been involved in organising weekly pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Monday will mark one year since Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
It also marks one year since Israel launched its ongoing retaliatory assault on Gaza, killing more than 41,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and plunging the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
In its statement, NSW Police said it “recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly”, but that their “first priority” is “the safety of the participants and the wider community”.