Australian state weighs banning intifada chants after Bondi attack
The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), where the deadly Bondi shooting occurred, plans to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” as part of broader measures against “hateful” slogans.
NSW Premier Chris Minns also called for a Royal Commission into the attack, the deadliest in Australia in nearly 30 years, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Fifteen people were killed and dozens more injured last Sunday when two gunmen, reportedly motivated by “Islamic State ideology,” opened fire at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach.
In response, both state and federal governments in Australia have announced a series of measures aimed at countering extremism.
Minns plans to recall the state parliament next week to pass through stricter hate speech and gun restrictions. Earlier this week, he also suggested he would tighten protest laws to scale back mass demonstrations to encourage "a summer of calm".
The premier confirmed he would seek to classify the chant "globalise the intifada" as hate speech.
Two pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly shouting slogans involving intifada at a demonstration in central London.
The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.
Some have described the term as a call for violence against Jewish people. Others have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza.
Earlier this week, Minns, along with the NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane, attended the funeral Matilda, 10, who was the youngest victim of the Bondi shooting. He read out a poem dedicated to the young girl at the event.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new gun buyback scheme to purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms. Hundreds of thousands of guns will be collected and destroyed, the government predicts.
Around 1,000 lifeguards staged a tribute on Saturday, lining up arm-to-arm facing the ocean, on the shorelines of Bondi beach. Surf lifesaving teams at other beaches around Australia were photographed performing a similar memorial.
Through the week, Bondi's surf volunteers have been commemorated as some of the heroes of the shooting. Lifeguard Jackson Doolan was photographed sprinting over from a neighbouring beach during the attack carrying a red medical supply bag.
Hundreds of swimmers and surfers paddled out at Bondi beach yesterday to create a giant circle to pay tribute to the victims of the attack.
On Sunday, Australia will hold a national day of reflection with the theme "light over darkness" marking precisely one week after the attack started with a minute's silence at 6:47 pm (0747 GMT).
Flags will fly at half-mast and Australians are being asked to light a candle in their windows to honour the victims.
"Sixty seconds carved out from the noise of daily life, dedicated to 15 Australians who should be with us today," prime minister Albanese told reporters Saturday.
"It will be a moment of pause to reflect and affirm that hatred and violence will never define us as Australians."
Bondi's attack was Australia's worst mass shooting since Port Arthur in 1996, where 35 people were killed and prompted then-prime minister John Howard to introduce strict gun control measures.
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