The NSW Court of Appeal has ruled against a Pro-Palestine protest which was planned at the Sydney Opera House. This morning, a decision was made by against the protest, citing concerns for the safety of the estimated 40,000 crowd.

Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told the court the exit points of a staircase and a small walkway would be unsuitable for the “thousands” protesting.

“It has disaster written all over it,” he said.

Felicity Graham, who represents Palestine Action, said “altruism and mutual assistance” would be key to avoiding any issues.

In response to Graham’s comment, McKenna said “all the altruism in the world” doesn’t help the situation for the amount of people.

The ruling against the protest group was unanimous. Justice Stephen Free said due to those concerns of lack of exit points, the several “pinch points”, would lead to greater chance of injury risks of crowd crushing.

“A further complication would be the likely response of the Opera House Trust consistent with its protocol for mass events of conducting searches of those seeking access to the forecourt. This would be likely to cause significant delays in the progress of the crowd when it reaches the forecourt, and augment the risk of crowd crush,” Free said.

It was last week when the Palestine Action Group announced these plans to break from their usual route and march from Hyde Park to the Opera House. The group planned to march on the 12 October, to mark two years since the attacks on 7 October where Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on Israel. The protest group is seeking “an end to genocide in Gaza”.

Photo: By Dietmar Rabich found HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.