Bondi Beach protest broken up by police as pro-Palestine activists and pro-Israel demonstrators clash
Tense footage has captured clashes between pro-Palestine activists and counter-demonstrators during a paddle-out at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday morning.
Police initially held back counter-protesters as the pro-Palestine group gathered on the sand at 10am.
The protesters had invited “surfers, Bondi residents and Palestine supporters” to join the event in solidarity with Gaza.
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The situation escalated as physical clashes broke out, prompting police to intervene with officers heard shouting “stop.”
The pro-Palestine demonstration was organised by the group Jews Against the Occupation, which faced backlash for staging the event in an area with a large Jewish population.
One man was also heard yelling, “Deport the lot of them.”
A pro-Israel protester posted a video to Instagram, stating: “they’ve come to Bondi Beach, Bondi where there’s a lot of Jewish people, specifically they’ve come in to cause the community to bring their hate here to our sand and I think regular Australians have had enough”.
“They’ve bought their Australian flags and they’re here to say enough is enough.”
Earlier, the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) described the protest as provocative, with its chief executive Robert Gregory saying, “Bondi is on edge, everyone is nervous.”
Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh criticised the event, noting that no permission had been granted for the demonstration. He called the protest “highly provocative” and “completely unnecessary, and particularly on Father’s Day.”
Mr Nemesh said he had raised the issue with council, local MPs, and police, and had written to the Police Minister urging intervention to stop the gathering.
“Council hasn’t received any permission as part of its events policy, and even if an application were to be put to Council, we would not accept it,” he said.
While Michelle Berkon, organiser from Jews Against The Occupation, described the demonstration as peaceful and emphasised the importance of marking Father’s Day for Palestinian fathers.
