Waleed Aly has been slammed for backing the legal right of protesters to wave the flags of a proscribed terrorist group and photos of its slain leader, even though The Project host opposes their message.
Thousands marched on the weekend to protest Israel’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza and bombing of Lebanon, and some waved the flag of Hezbollah – defined as a terrorist group by the Australian government – and its leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in a targeted Israeli attack.
Tensions flared on The Project when co-host Steve Price asked Aly whether a person should be allowed to carry the Hezbollah flag or a photo of its leader in Australia.
‘I certainly don’t like it.’ Aly said. ‘I’ve got nothing good to say about Hezbollah.
‘The way the law is drafted, the offence isn’t merely holding up that symbol. That’s not all that is required for the offence, it’s necessary, but not all of it.
‘There also needs to be other elements, basically incitement and vilification. That’s where it gets tricky. That’s where I think the police investigation will take some time, because it’s not just going to be about whether you waved a placard.’
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory urged Aly to ‘reconsider his words carefully’ during a time when Australia’s social cohesion was being damaged by the ‘ugly’ scenes at the rallies.
‘Waleed Aly should not be excusing the disgraceful behaviour we saw over the weekend,’ Mr Gregory said. ‘Hezbollah is an evil terrorist organisation, responsible for the murder of thousands. It’s disgraceful that Waleed would equivocate.
Waleed Aly said the AFP was making a subtle legal point that protesters waving a Hezbollah flag was not in itself a criminal offence
The yellow and green flag of Hezbollah and photographs could also be seen being waved by the Melbourne protesters
‘As a public figure, and particularly someone from the Muslim community, Aly should be going out of his way to condemn, in the strongest possible words, any support for a terrorist organization on the streets of Australia.’
Mr Gregory claimed there was a policing double standard between the hands-off approach to the rallies and the aggressive shutdown of protesters during Covid-19 lockdowns.
‘The protests during Covid were dealt with very harshly and we’ve seen many other instances where protests have been dealt with much more harshly than has been with these anti-Jewish or anti-Israel protests,’ Mr Gregory said.
‘We’re very disappointed in the police. Since October 7, last year, they haven’t shown a strong willingness to prosecute these kinds of offenses,’ Mr Gregory said.
‘There is little point having anti-terror laws for terrorist groups if people are free to openly support those terrorist groups on the street.’
He added any non-citizen who openly support terrorist groups should be deported, while citizens should be prosecuted where possible.
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory slammed Aly for ‘excusing’ the protesters and claimed the TV host should have condemned those supporting terrorist groups
The Australian Federal Police said in a statement that merely holding the flag or a photo of Nasrallah was not an offence in itself.
It only rises to the level of an offence if the symbols are used to spread ideas of racial superiority or hatred or were likely to offend, insult or intimidate a person for reasons such as race, religion or nationality.
Officers can direct people to take down the symbols but cannot remove them by force, although those who fail to comply face fines.
In NSW, protesters initially complied when asked to put away Hezbollah flags but many brought them out later, prompting police to seize at least two flags.
The Islamic Council of Victoria said only a small number of protesters had Hezbollah flags, saying focusing on that was a deliberate effort to distract from the main issue which was Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
‘It has been made clear that Hezbollah flags are not welcome and should not be brought,’ the group’s president Adel Salman said.
‘It’s a national disgrace that condemning a flag has become easier than confronting the brutal reality of a rogue state intent on annihilating an entire population.’
Political leaders have also expressed concern over the flames of social conflict being fanned by protest actions.
‘We do not want people to bring radical ideologies and conflict here, our multiculturalism and social cohesion cannot be taken for granted,’ Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ahead of a cabinet meeting in Canberra on Monday.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned non-citizens at the rallies who sought ‘to incite discord in Australia’ could have visas refused or revoked.
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