Sydney Opera House pro-Palestine protest in question as court weighs safety risks

Thousands of protesters will discover whether they can rally at an iconic Australian landmark as a trio of judges rule on the legality of a pro-Palestine demonstration.

Police have challenged the Palestine Action Group’s proposed protest in the NSW Court of Appeal.

Organisers believe Sunday’s march, if approved, will see around 40,000 people wind through Sydney’s city centre to the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House, according to organisers.

That number is why police believe it is inappropriate.

The judges, who are due to deliver a decision on Thursday, have also raised concerns over crowd safety during earlier hearings.

Comparing the protest to a massive August rally at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where between 90,000 and 300,000 marched in the rain, Chief Justice Andrew Bell said even more could attend Sunday’s event.

He also noted Macquarie Street could become a “narrow funnel” that pushes protesters into a tight space.

But the organiser’s barrister, Felicity Graham, said previous unticketed events at the Opera House, like popular light show Vivid, were managed capably.

In the 1990s, Australian-New Zealand band Crowded House performed on the steps of the Opera House to a crowd of 100,000 people, Palestine Action Group noted in a post on social media.

Outside the court on Wednesday, Palestine Action Group spokeswoman Amal Naser highlighted the importance of the protest.

“We can see no end to this genocide,” she said.

“That’s why it is urgent, right now, for us to protest, to demand that the Australian government abide by its international law obligations to prevent and punish Israel for this genocide.”

Israel has repeatedly denied such allegations, even though the United Nations commission and top international law scholars have found it has committed a genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Palestine Action Group has been organising weekly rallies for two years since Israel’s military assault on Gaza began in 2023.

There were 1200 people killed after Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The subsequent war has already killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

NSW has a permit system that allows protest participants to block public roads and infrastructure unless a court denies permission after a police challenge.

An impromptu demonstration was staged by pro-Palestinian supporters on the storied building’s forecourt in the days following the October 7 massacre in 2023.