Jewish leader delivers a wake-up call to Waleed Aly – after he backed the legal right of protesters to carry terrorist flags in Australia

Waleed Aly is accused of shamefully excusing Australian protesters who waved the flags of banned terror group Hezbollah and paraded photos of the slain leader.

Robert Gregory, CEO of the Australian Jewish Association, was angered by comments made by Aly on The Project, explaining why protesters were not arrested or had their flags and photographs taken.

The symbols were displayed last weekend during protests in Sydney and Melbourne against Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza and Lebanon, sparked by the October 7 attacks on Israel.

The host of the project said he was against Hezbollah, but explained that the current law does not give police the power to arrest or confiscate symbols unless they are used for incitement or defamation.

“I certainly don’t like it.” Aly said. ‘I have nothing good to say about Hezbollah.

“Because of the way the law is written, the offense isn’t just holding up that symbol. That’s not all it takes for the crime; it is necessary, but not everything.’

The CEO of the Australian Jewish Association urged Aly to “carefully reconsider his words” at a time when Australia’s social cohesion has been damaged by “ugly” scenes at the rallies.

“Waleed Aly cannot excuse the disgraceful behavior we saw this weekend,” Gregory told Daily Mail Australia.

Hezbollah’s yellow and green flag and photographs were also seen as protesters waved in Melbourne

“Hezbollah is an evil terrorist organization, responsible for the murder of thousands. It’s shameful that Waleed would be ambiguous.

“As a public figure, and especially as someone from the Muslim community, Aly should do his utmost to condemn in the strongest possible terms any support for a terrorist organization on the streets of Australia.”

Mr. Gregory claimed there was a double standard between the hands-off approach at last weekend’s rallies and the aggressive closure of protesters during Covid-19 lockdowns.

“The protests during Covid were very harshly dealt with and we have seen many other cases where protests have been dealt with much more harshly than these anti-Jewish or anti-Israel protests,” Mr Gregory said.

‘We are very disappointed in the police. Since October 7 of last year, they have not shown a strong willingness to prosecute these types of violations,” Gregory said.

“There is little point in having anti-terror laws for terrorist groups if people have the freedom to openly support these terrorist groups in the streets.”

He added that all non-citizens who openly support terrorist groups should be deported, while civilians should be prosecuted.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory slammed Aly for “excusing” protesters, claiming the TV presenter should have condemned those who supported terrorist groups

The Australian Federal Police said in a statement that holding the flag or a photo of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is not in itself an offence.

It only rises to the level of a crime if the symbols are used to spread ideas of racial superiority or hatred or if they are likely to offend, offend or intimidate a person for reasons such as race, religion or nationality.

Officers can order people to remove the symbols but cannot forcibly remove them, although those who don’t comply face a fine.

In NSW, protesters initially complied when asked to put away the Hezbollah flags, but many later brought them out, prompting police to confiscate at least two flags.

The Islamic Council of Victoria said only a small number of protesters had Hezbollah flags, and said focusing on them was a deliberate attempt to distract from the main issue, which is the Israeli bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.

“It has been made clear that Hezbollah flags are not welcome and should not be carried,” the group’s chairman Adel Salman said.

“It is a national shame that condemning a flag has become easier than confronting the brutal reality of a rogue state intent on exterminating an entire population.”

Political leaders have also expressed concern that protests are fanning the flames of social conflict.

“We don’t want people bringing radical ideologies and conflicts here, our multiculturalism and social cohesion cannot be taken for granted,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday ahead of a cabinet meeting in Canberra.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke warned at the meetings that non-citizens who tried to “foment discord in Australia” could have visas refused or revoked.