Incitement campaigns against marches sympathetic to Palestinians in Australia have escalated following the recent attack in Bondi, in which 15 people were killed and others injured.
In this context, the Australian state of New South Wales, where the Bondi shooting occurred, is planning to ban the use of the term “intifada” as part of a hardline campaign against pro Palestinian slogans, under the pretext that they are inciting.
For his part, the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, called for the formation of a royal commission to investigate the Bondi attack, after both state governments and the federal government in Australia announced a package of measures to “combat extremism”.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured last Sunday when two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish festival in Bondi, one of the country’s most famous beaches.
Minns plans to recall the state parliament next week to pass stricter laws on “hate speech” and firearms restrictions. Earlier this week, he also indicated that protest laws would be tightened to curb mass demonstrations, referring to those held in solidarity with Palestinians who are facing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The state premier confirmed that he would seek to classify the chant “intifada” as hate speech. This followed days after the arrest of two pro Palestinian demonstrators for allegedly chanting slogans containing the word “intifada” during a protest in central London.
The term intifada became widespread during the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987, and refers to a call for peaceful resistance to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and to the massacres in Gaza.
In the aftermath of the attack, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new program to buy back surplus, newly banned, and illegal firearms. The government expects to collect and destroy hundreds of thousands of weapons.
