By Renju Jose and Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Australian leaders on Tuesday urged calm and called on protests to remain peaceful after clashes between police and demonstrators opposing Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia erupted in Sydney.
Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out on Monday evening when police moved in to clear thousands of protesters who had gathered near Sydney’s town hall.
Protesters including an opposition lawmaker said on Tuesday they had been assaulted by officers.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” by the violence and urged protesters to express their views peacefully.
“Australians want two things. They don’t want conflict brought here. They want killing to stop, whether it’s Israelis or Palestinians, but they do not want conflict brought here,” Albanese told radio station Triple M.
“The causes are not advanced by these sorts of scenes – they are undermined.”
There were no reports of serious injuries, New South Wales state police said in a statement.
POLICE GRANTED SPECIAL POWERS
Thousands gathered in central Sydney on Monday to protest against Herzog’s visit to Australia, which comes after a mass shooting at a Jewish religious event at Bondi Beach in December that killed 15 people.
Police had been authorised to use rarely invoked powers during the protest, including directing crowds to move, restricting their entry to certain areas and searching vehicles. A legal challenge to those restrictions was dismissed by a Sydney court on Monday. Herzog was not present at the protest site.
Television footage showed some protesters trying to push through blockades as officers forced them back. Some were seen lying on the ground while police tried to restrain them.
Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns defended police actions, saying officers were required to make rapid decisions in tense and volatile situations, and urged calm.
“I understand there’s criticisms of New South Wales Police, I just want to make it clear they were caught in an impossible situation,” he told a press conference.
In a statement, the Palestine Action Group Sydney said protesters were unable to leave the event because they were surrounded by police on all sides.
“The police began charging the crowd with horses, indiscriminately pepper spraying the crowd, punching and arresting people,” the group said.
Abigail Boyd, an opposition Green lawmaker in the state parliament, said she had been punched by officers while attempting to vacate the site.
“I have a very sore arm and shoulder where they punched me. I’m really in shock,” she told a press conference.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said police actions were justified and that they showed restraint.
“Police did what they needed to do, which was to hold the line and then form and move the protesters back with a view to dispersing them,” he said.
“Having an angry and violent mob marching on police is not a situation that I want our officers in.”
Josh Lees, the head of Palestine Action Group Sydney, said supporters of the group would rally outside police headquarters in the city on Tuesday evening in response to Monday’s clashes.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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