The protestors not taken to the cop shop – the hostages’ families are
The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council has taken issue with the police response that the group of protestors was moved on. In fact, the hostage families had to move on, being evacuated from the Crowne Plaza to a police station.
Protestors in the hotel lobby
Executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “There should be unanimous agreement that the repugnant actions of the pro-Palestinian protestors last night, targeting the innocent families of Israelis taken hostage or murdered by Hamas, went far beyond the standards of decent human behaviour and should not have been permitted by the authorities.”
The deplorable incident in which protestors stormed a CBD hotel to intimidate these families visiting this country appears to have been mishandled by the police, with the Israeli visitors removed to a police station, allowing the attempted intimidation by protestors to effectively succeed.
The treatment meted out to these families was deeply disturbing.
It is unjust and unacceptable that it was the victims, subjected to the hostile actions of the pro-Palestinian protestors who thronged the hotel lobby, who were taken to a police station rather than the protestors being held accountable.
There are serious questions that need to be answered: Why was the police response to remove the victims rather than apprehending, or at the very least dispersing, the protestors? Why were the perpetrators allowed to not only intimidate their targets but inconvenience everyone staying at the hotel?
Why were our `move on’ powers not employed by police in this situation? There would appear to be fundamental problems with the response that require immediate answers from both Victoria Police and the Victorian Government.”
Dr Colin Rubenstein also called for a prompt meeting between the Jewish community and Victorian Police over the questionable handling of ‘this appalling incident’.
Yes, that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? And it happens in this way every time, whether it’s an individual such as the Jewish man with Israeli flag being removed at a protest gathering (despite the fact protesters are chanting antisemitic slogans), the Jews at their service in the synagogue at Caulfield being asked to go home, or the Sydney Jewish community asked to stay away from the Opera House and not come into the CBD. Now we have this, where the whole situation is inverted, and the Israeli visitors who are actually guests at the hotel being taken to the police station, while the perpetrators of such gross disrespect can wander off.
It’s astounding. It all needs to change.