2 Men Charged for Allegedly Displaying Nazi Symbols at Pro-Palestine Rallies

The rally went ahead despite concerns about the sensitivity of the timing on the eve of the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

Pro Palestine supporters gather during a protest at Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia on Oct. 6, 2024. Roni Bintang/Getty Images

New South Wales (NSW) Police have charged two men for allegedly displaying Nazi symbols during a pro-Palestinian protest.

The event in Sydney was held on the eve of the one year anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Police officers who were part of the Operation Shelter team patrolling Hyde Park at 2.45 p.m. on Oct. 6 located a man allegedly putting up the poster of the Nazi swastika.

“Officers spoke to and moved the 56-year-old man on and removed the poster,” Police said in a statement on Oct. 8.

The man was charged with “knowingly display by public act Nazi symbol without excuse” and issued an attendance notice to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Nov. 21.

This follows police arresting another at around 1.20 p.m. on Oct. 6 for also allegedly displaying a Nazi swastika symbol. The symbol was overlayed on an Israeli flag and featured the words, “Stop Nazi Israel.”

The man was taken to Surry Hills Police station, charged with knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol publicly without a “reasonable excuse” and was granted conditional bail to appear in court on Oct. 24, 2024.

NSW Police said investigations under Operation Shelter continue. Operation Shelter was launched in October 2023 in a bid to improve community safety in response to protest activity.

Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.

Since then, about 42,000 people have died in Gaza amid the response from Israeli Defence Forces, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian authority.

Rallies Costing Taxpayers

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Chris Minns has raised concerns about the exorbitant cost of policing pro-Palestine rallies in an interview on Oct. 8.

Minns explained the pro-Palestinian marches had cost the state’s taxpayer more $5 million (US$3.4 million), which he described as a “huge drain on the public.”

“When you’ve got someone putting in an application every seven days for 51 weeks to march through Sydney streets, this is costing millions of dollars,” he said on 2GB.

“And I think taxpayers should be in a position to say ... we would prefer that money spent on roadside breath testing, domestic violence investigations, knife crimes, rather than the huge resources that’s going into the city and the community.”

Minns flagged that police “should be able to be in a position” to deny a request for a march due to “stretched police resourcing.”

Public display of Nazi symbols were banned in NSW in 2022 when Crimes Amendment (Prohibition on Display of Nazi Symbols) legislation passed the state’s parliament under the former Liberal-National government.