Waleed Aly has backed protesters’ legal right to wave the flags of a banned terrorist group and photos of its slain leader, even though The Project host opposes their message.
Thousands marched this weekend to protest the mass killing of civilians in Gaza and the bombing of Lebanon, with some waving the flag of Hezbollah – defined by the Australian government as a terrorist group – and its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a targeted Israeli attack. .
Tensions around The Project flared when co-host Steve Price asked Aly if anyone could carry the Hezbollah flag or a photo of its leader in Australia.
“I certainly don’t like it.” Aly said. ‘I have nothing good to say about Hezbollah.
“Because of the way the law is written, the offense isn’t just holding up that symbol. That’s not all the offense requires; it is necessary, but not everything.
‘There must be other elements too, especially incitement and defamation. That’s where it gets tricky. I think the police investigation there will take some time, because it is not just about whether you waved a sign.’
The Australian Federal Police said in a statement that holding the flag or a photo of Nasrallah is not in itself an offence.
It only rises to the level of a violation when the symbols are used to it spread ideas of racial superiority or hatred or that are likely to offend, insult or intimidate any person on grounds such as race, religion or nationality.
Waleed Aly supports the legal right of protesters to wave the flags of a banned terrorist group and photos of its slain leader.
Tensions around The Project flared when co-host Steve Price asked Aly if anyone could carry the Hezbollah flag or a photo of its leader in Australia.
Officers can order people to remove the symbols but cannot forcibly remove them, although those who don’t comply face a fine.
In NSW, protesters initially complied when asked to put away the Hezbollah flags, but many later brought them out, prompting police to confiscate at least two flags.
Price said the law didn’t go far enough.
“The Australian public has a right to be very confused these days. Nasrallah is a deadly terrorist,” Price said.
“He’s been responsible for some horrible terrorist attacks, killing Americans and all kinds of people, and yet you can walk down the street with a framed photo of him after he was taken out by Israel.”
He said there is a double standard in policing between the hands-off approach to protesters at the weekend and the aggressive shutdown of even peaceful protests against Covid-19 lockdowns.
“(At) Covid protests, people protesting against being locked up in their homes were shot with rubber bullets, arrested and dragged across the street,” Price said.
However, Aly dismissed the comparison as an ‘apples and oranges argument’ as holding a protest during the lockdown was itself an offense as mass gatherings were banned at the time.
“It’s such an exceptional circumstance, I think it’s insane to draw a line,” Aly said.
Protesters in Melbourne were seen holding up framed photos of recently murdered Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah’s yellow and green flag could also be seen as protesters waved in Melbourne
A spokesperson for Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said the AFP has confirmed they are investigating a number of breaches, believed to be as many as six.
Alex Ryvchin, co-leader of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said it was “sickening to see fellow Australians in our streets mourning the death of this terrorist leader.”
The protests went beyond concerns about the loss of life and the future of Lebanon and evolved into “active, open, specific support for Hezbollah” that police had to take action against, Ryvchin said on Monday.
The Islamic Council of Victoria said only a small number of protesters had Hezbollah flags, and said focusing on them was a deliberate attempt to distract from the main issue, which is the Israeli bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
“It has been made clear that Hezbollah flags are not welcome and should not be carried,” the group’s chairman Adel Salman said.
“It is a national shame that condemning a flag has become easier than confronting the brutal reality of a rogue state intent on exterminating an entire population.”
Political leaders have also expressed concern that protests are fanning the flames of social conflict.
“We don’t want people bringing radical ideologies and conflicts here, our multiculturalism and social cohesion cannot be taken for granted,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday ahead of a cabinet meeting in Canberra.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned at the meetings that non-citizens who tried to “foment discord in Australia” could have visas refused or revoked.
