Pro-Palestine protests LIVE: Demonstrations to rock Sydney and Melbourne as activists mark October 7 anniversary

Barnaby Joyce has blasted those who take part in Pro-Palestinian rallies, claiming many are protesting just for the sake of it.

His comments came on the first anniversay of the October 7 attack on Israel, with Australia to see a string of protests across the country on Monday.

Speaking to Sunrise host Nat Barr, the Nationals MP said it was ‘ridiculous’ that certain groups were participating in the rallies.

‘Like, you know, people saying in the gay community supporting issues in Palestine or supporting Hamas, do they understand exactly what happens to people in the gay community under Hamas?’ Mr Joyce said on the breakfast show.

‘Do they comprehend exactly what they’re doing? And therefore, you pose the question, what is really behind this?’

Same-sex relationships are prohibited in Gaza

‘An understanding of the Palestinian situation, a real empathy. I’m absolutely certain there are people with that. Not a shadow of a doubt. I not for one second condoned them doing it on a day of this carnage that was inflicted by a terrorist group of musk,’ Mr Joyce continued.

‘But there are a lot of other people in there who are hangers on, and for them, that’s completely contemptible.’

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has a message for pro-Palestine supporters planning to attend an October 7 protest at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance – don’t do it.

‘Today is very much a day of profound grief and trauma and deep, deep sadness for Victoria’s Jewish community,’ Ms Allan told reporters in Sunbury.

‘They are grieving, and have been grieving for a year now, for the single biggest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust.

‘Today is certainly not a day to add to that grief and trauma.

‘Don’t protest … show some respect, let’s choose love and support.’

Ms Allan also called on pro-Palestine supporters to move their planned protest away from the shrine, describing it as one of Victoria’s most sacred places.

The premier will join Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a formal commemoration for the Israeli victims of October 7 in Melbourne, organised by Zionism Victoria.

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto is also expected to attend.

Organisers of the Vigil for Palestine event say October 7 marks the first day that ‘Israel transformed Gaza from an ‘open air prison’ into a ‘graveyard for children’.

An overnight wake will follow the vigil, with a flag raising ceremony at 8am on Tuesday, that organisers say will symbolise their ‘unrelenting resistance to the Israeli occupation, oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people’

Those who attend have been warned not to speak to the media, and urged to wear all black and the keffiyeh, which represents the Palestinian liberation movement.

– Australian Associated Press

The leader of Australia’s largest Jewish community organisation has called for ordinary Australians to fight the ‘hatred’ of what he has called rising antisemitism a year on from the horrific October 7 attack by Hamas.

Alex Ryvchin, the co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said October 7 was a day Jewish people would ‘never forget’.

Since the attacks, over 1,800 incidents of antisemitism have been recorded in Australia – marking an increase of more than 300 per cent from the previous year’s numbers, he said.

‘Beyond the scale and sheer number of the atrocities, it is the scenes, the images which will stay with us forever,’ Mr Ryvchin said to a crowd in Sydney on Monday.

Mr Ryvchin referred to the death of 22-year-old Israeli tattoo artist Shani Louk, who was killed at the Nova music festival just as gunmen launched their attack, and the kidnapping of soldier Naama Levy from army observation post near the Gaza border.

‘We saw things on that day we never thought we’d see again,’ he said.

‘According to Jewish tradition, a year after an event of trauma and loss, we are compelled to cease our mourning.

‘But it’s impossible not to mourn, when 101 Israelis remain in that hell.’

Amid heightened tensions in Australia over conflict, Mr Ryvchin said it was ‘incumbent’ upon all Australians to ‘fight this hatred’.

‘It cannot be the Jewish community alone standing up to this,’ he said.

Osher Feldman was arrested for breaching the peace in Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD on Sunday, where 10,000 pro-Palestine supporters attended a rally.

He was filmed being escorted from the scene by police officers shortly after the protest wrapped up on the eve of the one year anniversary of the start of the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel.

Mr Feldman became visibly upset when his kippah fell off his head as he was led away to a police van surrounded by half a dozen officers, repeatedly saying ‘Where’s my cap, I need it on my head.’

Anthony Albanese has made a vow to Jewish Australians to never let history repeat itself as the country marks the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.

In a video statement, the Prime Minister reflected on the date, calling it ‘a day that carries terrible pain’.

‘On the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, we pause to reflect on the horrific terrorist atrocity that reverberated around the globe,’ Mr Albanese said.

‘We unequivocally condemn Hamas’ actions on that day.

‘Innocent lives taken at a music festival, women, men and children killed in their homes, brutality that was inflicted with cold calculation.’

He said anti-Semitism had haunted the Jewish community over the past year.

‘Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have felt the cold shadows of anti-Semitism reaching into the present day and as a nation, we say, never again,’ Mr Albanese said.

‘We unequivocally condemn all prejudice and hatred. There is no place in Australia for discrimination against people of any faith.’

Vigils have been taking place across Australia as people mourn those killed in the worst loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.

Peter Dutton said the date marked a ‘day of depravity’ in a social media post, warning that Hamas’ attacks ‘awoke and exposed an anti-Semitic rot afflicting Western democracies’.

‘Israel has every right to defend its territory and its people from existential threats,’ the Opposition Leader said.

He said the Coalition stood with Israel ‘rather than treating her like an adversary’, in a thinly veiled shot at the Albanese government, which has maintained calls for a ceasefire.

‘We support Australians of Jewish faith – because you are cherished Australian citizens,’ Mr Dutton said.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police would attend the vigil at Sydney’s Town Hall and a rally at Lakemba Mosque on Monday, and held concerns the protests could mushroom into something larger.

‘We can’t rule (that) out – we would always be concerned that there’d be interlopers, (and that) people will come in for the wrong reason,’ she said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke out against the planned demonstrations on Monday.

‘I don’t think it is appropriate, that is my personal view,’ he said.

‘To hold a protest or a rally on a day when people were massacred on the other side of the world is grossly insensitive, in my opinion.’

Mr Minns also said the police would act on any vilification of the Jewish community.

‘We cannot allow a situation where permissive anti-Semitism creeps into the public dialogue because a certain group in our community believe that kind of racism is okay. It’s not okay,’ he said.

‘I want to make it clear that if there’s any breaches in protests, in public sermons, in speeches over this weekend, it will be met with very strict laws in Australia and in NSW in relation to hate speech.’

It is illegal in Australia to display symbols connected to a terrorist organisation or to display Nazi symbols like the swastika.

Palestine rallies are facing increased scrutiny after flags of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and framed pictures of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, began to appear at rallies last weekend.