00:00While the weekend's protests against Israel's military action in Gaza and Lebanon were mostly
00:08peaceful, the appearance of the flag of Hezbollah, which Australia's designated a terrorist
00:17organisation, has police, politicians and the Jewish community on edge.
00:22I think it was a rude awakening for the Jewish community that the flag of a listed terrorist
00:29organisation was so freely flown both in Melbourne and in Sydney.
00:34Who's actually carrying out the aggression and the violence right now? This is, Israel
00:38has killed 42,000 people.
00:40The protests came just a day after Israel killed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah,
00:45and some protesters held placards with his image.
00:48We are a tolerant society, but we are not going to accept the glorification of somebody
00:53who has led a terrorist organisation.
00:56While laws already ban the display of terrorist symbols in some circumstances, the opposition
01:01leader says if they're not strong enough to bring criminal prosecutions, the Prime Minister
01:06should recall Parliament to change them.
01:08Any use of terrorist symbols will be investigated by the security agencies as is appropriate.
01:15Investigating is one thing, laying charges is another. Under the law, it's not enough
01:19to simply hold a flag, there needs to be another element, like incitement to violence or intimidation.
01:25The New South Wales opposition is calling for state legislation that would go even further
01:30than the federal laws.
01:31If the feds won't fix them, then New South Wales should.
01:34If there's further legislation that maybe is required to ensure that this doesn't happen
01:41on our streets, we're open to considering that.
01:43A lot of these laws that exist and that are currently in place are racist and they're
01:48just dog whistling tactics.
01:49Even bigger protests are planned next week on the anniversary of October 7. Organisers
01:54say anyone with a Hezbollah flag should leave it at home.
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