Protesters target defence expo

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has accused anti-Israel activists of latching onto other protest movements to maintain relevance following violent clashes at a Sydney defence conference.

“Since the end of the war, we have seen anti-Israel activists latch onto other protest movements in order to maintain their relevance, have something to do, and grow their numbers. But Australians have seen through their lies and manipulations,” said Ryvchin.

“They now claim to be anti-war yet many cheered Hamas’s invasion and the subsequent attacks by Iran and Hezbollah. We also offer our support to the men and women of the police, who are trying to do their jobs, keep Australians safe, in the face of relentless abuse, intimidation and in some cases, violence by protestors.”

NSW Police charged 12 people following the protest outside the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition at the Sydney International Convention Centre on Tuesday morning.

According to the ABC, riot squad, dog and mounted unit police briefly clashed with protesters as they shouted chants and waved Palestinian flags, with officers deploying pepper spray multiple times into the crowd.

Police said at about 6.30am a group of protesters allegedly left the designated area, failing to comply with police direction and attempted to access a restricted area. Two hours later protesters in the designated area allegedly moved towards police “and attempted to breach the police containment line”.

Two people, a 27-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, were charged with assaulting police and were refused bail to appear in court on Wednesday. A 28-year-old man was granted conditional bail to also appear in court on Wednesday. The other nine people charged were all granted conditional bail and will appear in court at later dates.

Superintendent Paul Dunstan said officers had paint thrown at them in the melee and they were “set upon”. Two officers were injured in the clashes, with one suffering a laceration to his nose.

“The group continued to yell and threaten police and a further incident took place when paint, a bucket of paint, was picked up and thrown at police,” he said.

According to The Australian, Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees accused NSW Police of “engaging in brutality against peaceful protesters”. The protest targeted the expo due to the presence of Israeli defence contractors Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and the Australian subsidiary of Elbit Systems.

Inside the venue, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said “we make no apology” for sourcing the best defence tech.