Waleed Aly has backed 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.’
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.
Waleed Aly has backed the legal right of protesters to wave the flags of a proscribed terrorist group and photos of its slain leader
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
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.
Price said the law did not go far enough.
‘The Australian public today have a right to be very confused. Nasrallah is a deadly terrorist,’ Price said.
‘He has been responsible for some horrible terrorist attacks, killing of Americans, and all sorts of people and yet you can walk down the street with a framed photograph of him after he was taken out by Israel.’
He said there was a policing double standard between the hands-off approach to the protesters on the weekend with the aggressive shutdown of even peaceful protests against Covid-19 lockdowns.
‘(At) Covid protests people who were protesting being locked in their houses were fired on with rubber bullets and arrested and dragged down the street,’ Price said.
However, Aly dismissed the comparison as an ‘apples and oranges argument’ as holding a protest during lockdown was an offence in itself as mass gatherings were outlawed at the time.
‘It’s such an exceptional circumstance, I just think trying to draw the line is crazy,’ Aly said.
Melbourne protesters were seen holding aloft framed photos of recently killed Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah
The yellow and green flag of Hezbollah could also be seen being waved by the Melbourne protesters
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the AFP had confirmed they were investigating a number of breaches, believed to be as many as six.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-leader Alex Ryvchin called it ‘sickening to see fellow Australians on our streets mourning the death of this terrorist kingpin’.
The protests went beyond concerns about the loss of life and future of Lebanon and veered into ‘active, open, specific support for Hezbollah’ which police needed to take action against, Mr Ryvchin said on Monday.
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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