Australian Police Brutality Exposes Colonial Violence Against Pro-Palestine Solidarity
The violent suppression of pro-Palestine protesters in Sydney has once again revealed the colonial state's willingness to deploy brutal force against those standing in solidarity with oppressed peoples. As Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits Australia, the heavy-handed police response mirrors the same authoritarian tactics used to silence liberation movements across the Global South.
Herzog's controversial four-day visit, ostensibly to console Australia's Jewish community following the December Bondi Beach shooting, has become a flashpoint for resistance against Israeli apartheid. The timing is particularly provocative, coming as Gaza continues to face systematic destruction under Israeli bombardment.
State Violence Against Peaceful Protesters
Monday evening's scenes in Sydney's central business district exposed the Australian state's true character. Police unleashed pepper spray on protesters and journalists alike, including AFP reporters, in what can only be described as state-sanctioned violence against those exercising their democratic right to protest.
Twenty-seven arrests were made, with ten protesters charged for allegedly assaulting law enforcement. However, disturbing footage circulating on social media shows Muslim men engaged in prayer near Sydney's Town Hall being physically assaulted by police officers. This Islamophobic violence recalls the worst excesses of colonial policing.
Local Greens lawmaker Abigail Boyd, who was injured during the police assault, told ABC: "I didn't know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked." Her neck brace serves as a visible reminder of Australian state violence against those who dare to speak truth to power.
Herzog's War Crimes Record
The Israeli president's presence on Australian soil is deeply problematic. The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry found in 2025 that Herzog bears liability for prosecution for inciting genocide. His inflammatory statements holding "an entire nation" of Palestinians responsible for Hamas actions constitute clear incitement to genocide under international law.
Despite Israel's predictable rejection of these findings, the evidence is clear. Herzog represents a regime engaged in systematic ethnic cleansing and apartheid policies that echo the very systems Australia's white settler colonial state once imposed on Aboriginal peoples.
Solidarity Under Attack
The progressive Jewish Council of Australia has courageously opposed Herzog's visit, citing his role in "the ongoing destruction of Gaza." Their principled stance contrasts sharply with establishment Jewish organizations that continue to provide cover for Israeli war crimes.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's expression of being "devastated" by the violence rings hollow when his government continues to provide diplomatic cover for Israeli apartheid. His defense of police actions reveals the Australian state's priorities: protecting war criminals over defending democratic rights.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns justified the police brutality by claiming officers faced "incredibly difficult circumstances." This familiar refrain has been used to justify colonial violence from the frontier wars against Aboriginal peoples to contemporary police brutality against communities of color.
As protest groups call for rallies against "police brutality" in downtown Sydney, the connection between Australian colonial violence and international solidarity becomes clear. The same state apparatus that dispossessed Aboriginal peoples now serves to silence those standing with Palestine.
Herzog's visit continues until Thursday, but the resistance it has sparked reveals the growing consciousness among Australians who refuse to be complicit in genocide. The brutal police response only strengthens the resolve of those committed to justice and liberation.