Peaceful protest in Coffs against against Herzog visit

ALMOST 200 locals braved the rain on 9 February, gathering along the Pacific Highway opposite the Coffs Harbour Health Campus for one of 24 protests across the country against the visit of the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog.

Unlike the Sydney protest, where protestors and police clashed, Coffs Harbour’s demonstrators stayed in place and remained peaceful.

President Herzog’s visit to console survivors and the families of those killed in the Bondi Beach massacre on 14 December, has polarised sections of the community.

Local protestors shared feelings of sorrow for the 15 dead and 40 injured by two gunmen in the anti-Semitic attack, and expressed their condolences and sympathies for the suffering families. they view President Herzog as divisive and representing the government of Israel, which has been widely condemned for its continuing actions towards Palestinian people.

Protestors point to statements the President has made, which the International Criminal Court has condemned, and pictures of him signing a bomb.

President Herzog has said that his statement about “No innocent civilians” in Gaza was taken out of context and that he signed a “smokescreen”, not a bomb.

Ruth Cully, one of the organisers of the Coffs Harbour protest, said she attended because she is horrified that someone who is said to have incited genocide has been invited to Australia.

“More than 72,000 defenseless people have been killed in Gaza, including 20,000 children, and it has been classified as genocide,” she said.

“The only reason for inviting him here should be to arrest him, because Australia is a signatory to International Law.”

She pointed out that many Jewish people around the world disagree with the Israeli government’s actions.

“Why could we not have invited one of them?”

By Andrew VIVIAN