‘They want to disrupt’
After unfruitful mediation talks, police said they would take protest organisers to court in a bid to stop the Story Bridge march.
Legal action has been taken by Queensland Police in an attempt to stop a pro-Palestinian march across Brisbane’s Story Bridge on Sunday.
Justice for Palestine rally organisers lodged an official notice of their plans for the protest on August 7, which police said raised “public safety concerns” and could pose “significant disruptions to the rights and freedoms” of others.
“The Queensland Police Service respects the right to peacefully assemble, however this must be balanced with the need to ensure public safety and minimise disruption to the broader community,” a police statement said.
About 7000 protesters were expected to attend the Story Bridge rally as part of a nationwide day of action to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than 20 cities and towns, including all capitals, are set to feature in what has been billed as the largest pro-Palestine demonstration in Australia’s history.
After unfruitful mediation talks, police said they would take protest organisers to court in a bid to stop the Story Bridge march.
“Police participated in mediation with protest organisers, however an agreement could not be met,” police said.
“Police will lodge documentation with Brisbane Magistrates Court for a decision to be made with respect to the Notice of Intention to Hold a Public Assembly.”
Rally organiser Remah Naji indicated the march could take place even if the police successfully gained a court order to stop it.
It comes after close to 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge earlier this month. According to The Daily Telegraph, one of the marchers was Sydney-based Muslim leader Abed Mourtada, who attended the funeral of Hezbollah’s terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg said the Sydney march had left the Jewish community in Australia scared.
“These organisers are not living Australian values,” he said.
“They want to disrupt. They want to be loud and chant slogans of death, and that’s not the society that we want in this country.
“We hope that any action taken by the courts also precludes them from marching over the icon of the Story Bridge.”