A Liberal Senator believes there is another rally pro-Palestine rally planned in Sydney on Monday night. Picture: Supplied
Sky News Australia
The shadow home affairs minister has issued a firm warning to anyone planning to attend pro-Palestine rallies in Sydney that “very serious criminal penalties” can apply for associating with terrorist organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Hamas’ “horrific attack” on Israel was “unprovoked”. This comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel was at war following a surprise attack from Hamas. “This is a horrific attack – it’s unprovoked, it is certainly the targeting of people as a definition of a terror,” Mr Paterson told Sky News Australia.Liberal Senator James Paterson has issued a firm warning to Australians ahead of a pro-Palestine rally planned in Sydney on Monday night, following a mass incursion of Hamas militants on Israel.
More than 700 people have been killed and thousands injured after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday night, storming the country by land, sea and sky.
There are reports that more than 100 Israelis have been taken hostage by the terrorist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, as Israel continues its major counter offensive to regain control.
The attack on Israel has sparked a number of protests around the world, including a pro-Palestine rally at Sydney’s Lakemba Station on Sunday night.
It is understood another rally has been advertised on social media which is due to be held at Sydney Town Hall on Monday evening.
Speaking to Sky News Australia about the conflict in Israel, Mr Paterson shared an important message for any Australians planning to attend pro-Palestine protests in Sydney.
The Liberal Senator warned that both Hamas and Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon, are listed in their entirety as terrorist organisations.
He cited the decision by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security last year, which made the recommendation to list both bodies in their entirety as terrorist groups.
Mr Paterson urged anyone attending pro-Palestine rallies to remember that it is a crime to associate with listed terrorist organisations.
“The important thing about that for Australians is, that the legal affect of that means, that it is now a crime under the Commonwealth Criminal Code to associate with a terrorist organisation and that includes all of Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told Sky News host Kieran Gilbert.
Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun praised the attacks on Israel as a “day of victory” after a Palestinian rally was held in western Sydney on Sunday night.
Mr Paterson also flagged the parading of paraphernalia connected to terrorist groups.
“Now to be clear, it is unlikely to meet the legal threshold for prosecution for simply attending a rally or even holding a flag as offensive and stupid as that would be,” he continued.
“But, providing material assistance to either of these organisations, particularly in the terms of fundraising or recruitment or in fact incitement to violence could meet that threshold and it’s a very serious crime that attracts serious penalties.”
People in their hundreds converged on Sydney’s Lakemba Station on Sunday night for a pro-Palestine rally where demonstrators expressed their support of Hamas’ efforts.
Shocking footage from the event captured the crowd cheering and shouting in celebration of the violent attacks on Israel, with fireworks seen shooting out from a vehicle.
Among those supporters praising the Palestinian attacks was prominent Muslim Sheikh Ibrahim Dadoun who described it as a “day of victory”.
“I’m elated, it’s a day of courage, it’s a day of happiness, it’s a day of pride, it’s a day of victory. This is the day we’ve been waiting for,” he shouted at the rally.
Mr Paterson condemned the scenes at the protest on Sunday evening and the words of praise from Sheikh Dadoun.
“What’s particularly troubling about these comments… is that it was not in response to an Israeli retaliatory attack on Gaza that might have had some incidental or accidental civilian deaths,” Mr Paterson told Sky News Australia.
“This was just in response to those first images that we all saw of Hamas terrorists getting into Israel kidnapping men, women and children including the elderly, taking them back into Gaza and in many instances executing them and other instances abusing them, documenting it and putting it up on social media.
“These are unquestionably crimes against humanity and (to) have any Australian person celebrating that is an abhorrent thing.”
“That Imam should be ashamed of himself and those who went along and cheered him should be ashamed of themselves as well and people like that have no position, have no place in community leadership in this country at all.”
A Liberal Senator believes there is another rally pro-Palestine rally planned in Sydney on Monday night. Picture: Supplied
Also speaking about the issue on Sydney’s 2GB radio on Monday morning, Senator Paterson declared there was “absolutely nothing” that justifies the conflict in Israel.
“Whatever your views are on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Nothing justifies the targeting of innocent civilians in the way it was yesterday,” he told host Ray Hadley.
He again warned that providing material assistance to terrorist organisations, whether that be financial or recruitment, can attract “very serious criminal penalties”.
As stated on the the Attorney-General Department’s website, it is an offence to associate with a listed terrorist organisation.
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The Most Revolutionary Act 
” Nothing justifies the targeting of innocent civilians in the way it was yesterday,” he told host Ray Hadley.
He again warned that providing material assistance to terrorist organizations, whether that be financial or recruitment, can attract “very serious criminal penalties”.
Absolute hypocrisy!! The U.S. IS a terrorist organization that has been funding Israel to persecute and steal land from underneath the Palestinian people for too damn long. And what about the fact that the U.S. continues the “targeting of innocent civilians” all over the world, every single day, but Paterson has not stepped up and declared that to be of any consequence at all. The sheer, outrageous, blatant hypocrisy is already on display. We are having protests in support of Palestine here in the U.S. and of course, the MSM is going on and on about what terrible things are being done to the Israelis, but not a word about what Netanyahu has been subjecting the Palestinian people to.
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In my line of work, Shelby, we call it classic projection.
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