Waleed Aly voices his concern that pro-Palestinian rallies could be banned after angry mob chanted ‘gas the Jews’ outside the Opera House

The Project’s Waleed Aly highlighted how pro-Palestinian rallies could be banned in Australia after an ugly demonstration on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

About 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters protested against the famous monument which was lit up in blue and white in a show of support for Israel after Hamas terror attacks that killed 1,200 civilians.

During the rally, some were seen chanting ‘gas the Jews’ and other anti-Semitic slogans, as well as burning the Israeli flag.

New South Wales police have said another pro-Palestine rally in Sydney, set for Sunday, will be banned as tensions between Jews and Muslims escalate.

“If the response from the government ends up being, ‘Sorry, you can’t protest’… it will only increase the resentment among protesters who had nothing to do with this,” Aly said on Thursday’s show.

“The whole point of these protests, those Palestinian marches — they were extremely good, and you get a bunch of people to disrupt them,” he said.

He explained that many pro-Palestinian protesters were peacefully demanding recognition of Israel’s treatment of citizens in Gaza and the West Bank.

“The whole message they’re trying to send is that they’re responding to the Opera House by lighting up in the colors of the Israeli flag,” he said.

Their whole thing is, “Know our pain, know our hurt, know our dead for so many years they haven’t been known.”

Aly’s comments follow massive backlash to The Project’s controversial segment on the subject on Wednesday night.

Panelists read a statement from organizers of Monday’s protest, the Palestine Action Group in Sydney, in which they claimed only a small group of participants showed anti-Semitic behavior – despite footage to the contrary.

Project co-host Waleed Aly said that while they could not verify the organizers’ claims, other recent protests have also seen rogue demonstrators spreading hate.

But commentators on the programme’s social media posts accused it of downplaying the anti-Semitism displayed at the demonstration.

Former Married At First Sight groom Dean Wells responded to the segment on his Instagram stories with a photo of the report’s headline saying, “Rally Taken Over.”

In the caption of his story, he wrote: ‘Take over? I’ll play the raw footage in the next frame. You tell me if it looks like the whole crowd is into it or if it’s been taken over by a small group of extremists.’

In another story, Wells shared a video from the protest with pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanting “f**k the Jews” repeatedly.

Aly mentioned the statement again on Thursday.

“We read a statement at the show from the organizers who said the people in question (showing anti-Semitic behaviour) were less than 20,” he said.

“It went on for about a minute and they shut it down.

“I don’t know if it’s true, we can only take their word for it, but if it’s true, imagine what they’re going through now saying, ‘We’re losing our voice because of that group of people.’

“I just don’t think that’s the right way to answer it.”

The actions of the protesters outside Sydney have been condemned across the political spectrum.

On Tuesday, Mr Albanese called for de-escalation of the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian communities in Australia.

“We have to lower the temperature,” he said.

“I don’t want to see conflict here in Australia and I don’t want to see the kind of scenes I saw last night … they certainly have no place.”

On Thursday, ASIO warned of the ‘potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning’ in Australia.

ASIO chief Mike Burgess said religious and ideologically motivated attacks were ‘possible’ if tensions in Australia’s Middle Eastern community were not eased.

“I remain concerned about the potential for opportunistic violence with little or no warning. However, it is important to distinguish opportunistic violence from planned violence or acts of terrorism,” said the director general of security.

“ASIO remains well placed to detect security threats, including potential politically motivated acts of violence or the promotion of violence in the community.”