Australia urges calm after violent clashes in Sydney over Herzog visit |
Australian leaders on Tuesday urged calm and called for protests to remain peaceful after clashes between police and demonstrators opposing President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia erupted in Sydney.
Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out on Monday evening when police moved in to clear thousands of protesters who had gathered near Sydney’s town hall.
Protesters, including an opposition lawmaker, said on Tuesday they had been assaulted by officers.
Herzog is visiting Australia this week at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of a December 14 terror shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15.
The visit has attracted the ire of some people in Australia, who accuse Herzog of being complicit in civilian deaths in Gaza. Pro-Palestine, anti-Israel groups organized protests in cities and towns across the country on Monday evening.
Albanese said he was “devastated” by the violence and urged protesters to express their views peacefully.
“Australians want two things. They don’t want conflict brought here. They want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here,” Albanese told radio station Triple M.
“The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes — they are undermined.”
There were no reports of serious injuries, New South Wales state police said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Herzog visited the Moriah College Jewish high school in Sydney, where, among other things, he spoke of the protests.
“I know that the........