The mother of a teenager who alleges he was “pushed, kicked, dragged on the ground” by officers at a protest says she will press charges against police.
Kefah Maradweh and her 16-year-old son Nedal were among an estimated 6,000 attendees at Monday night’s rally against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s Sydney visit.
The event, organised by Palestine Action Group (PAG), was peaceful until some demonstrators wanted to march to NSW parliament despite a Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) making it unlawful to do so.
One video of the incident shows police grabbing Nedal Al-Haj Qasem and dragging him away from the crowd, and another shows him shortly after he was detained being calmly led away by a police officer.
Nedal says he was assaulted by police at Sydney’s protest against the Israeli president’s visit. (ABC News: Monish Nand)
The ABC has no recording of what occurred before police apprehended Nedal, but he said he did not do anything wrong or provoke police.
Nedal told ABC Radio Sydney Mornings host Hamish Macdonald the incident happened as police were pushing people out of Sydney’s Town Hall when he, his sister and mother saw a group of Muslim men praying.
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He said he wanted to join them but then saw police were “pushing people out of their prayer” and he instead waited next to them with his sister and her child.
“I was holding my sister’s baby bag and then all of a sudden they push her and she has a baby. I told them she has a baby,” Nedal said.
“They just grabbed me by the keffiyeh, my scarf, and just dragged me, pulled me, kicked me on the floor, knee to my head, knee to my neck and then just put me in handcuffs.”
Nedal shows the ABC bruises he says were caused by police at the protest. (ABC News: Monish Nand)
He said he was briefly detained before being released without charge but sustained scratches and bruises in the interaction.
In a statement to the ABC, a NSW Police spokesperson did not comment directly on the incident involving Nedal but said NSW Police would review all officially reported complaints from the Town Hall event.
“If a complaint is made through official channels police will investigate appropriately,” the statement said.
His mother, Ms Maradweh, said she would seek to press charges.
“That was a deliberate attack on my son and that was an assault on a minor,” she said.
Key moments from Sydney protest
Ms Maradweh said the family was exercising its right to protest — something she could not do back home in Palestine’s West Bank.
Other videos posted online show police charging in lines and using pepper spray, with one showing a man being punched multiple times while his hands were being restrained behind his back.
Twenty-seven demonstrators were arrested that night.
Nine protesters have since been charged, with five of those accused of assaulting police.
Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna on Monday night said officers were “threatened, jostled and assaulted” during “a number of melees, rolling fights” and “violent behaviour” during clashes with protesters.
Loading…A ‘war zone’
Nedal said the incident was “traumatising” for his family.
“It was a deliberate assault,” Ms Maradweh said.
“Pulling him out from where he was freestanding in a crowd, doing nothing … and pulled down to the floor, pushed down, really in a harsh way and kneeling on his back, his face really knocked to the concrete.”
Grandparents among those injured in Sydney protests
NSW Premier Chris Minns said police did “everything possible” to avoid clashes through days of negotiations with PAG to have the protest and march at Hyde Park and down College Street.
He also defended the actions of officers on the ground, who he said needed to make tactical decisions in a “difficult situation” to keep the public safe.
Ms Maradweh disagreed, calling it a “reckless” response.
Nedal was briefly detained before being released without charge. (ABC News: Monish Nand)
Police Minister Yasmin Catley said the family sounded well-intentioned with no expectation they would “land themselves in the middle of a riot”.
“I think that a family like that taking children, I absolutely know that they would not have gone there with the intention to do any of those things,” she said.
“But because of a minority who are full of volatile anger, they ended up in that situation.”
She said the protest organisers, PAG, should be the ones to apologise for the incident.
“They [PAG] deliberately defied police, they defied the government, and they defied a court decision … and were determined to take on police and to march through Sydney, which they knew they were not able to do,” Ms Catley said.
PAG launched a case in the state’s Supreme Court on Sunday, after Mr Herzog’s visit was declared a “major event” by the government.
That order gave police extended powers to manage crowd safety, maintain separation between opposing groups and reduce the risk of confrontation.
What started as a peaceful static protest turned violent when some wanted to march despite it being unlawful. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)
PAG spokeswoman Amal Naser, who witnessed the incident, said Monday’s court matter related to the police powers under the Major Events Act — not the ability to march — and insisted the government had questions to answer.
“We completely reject that PAG should apologise — there was effectively no safe way to leave, we were cornered on all sides,” she said.
Ms Catley said video of the protest would be reviewed.
“As a government, we make no apology for putting measures in place, legislative changes in place to ensure that the people of this city and this state are safe and this is part of that,” she said.
Labor minister raises ‘deep concerns’ over clashes
The Greens have called for police watchdog the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to investigate the operation.
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Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said he was “deeply distressed” by the footage of Monday’s protest in Sydney’s CBD, and singled out the disruption of the men who were praying.
Australian Muslim groups have issued a joint statement, calling for an apology over that incident.
In a social media post, Mr Dib, a Muslim, said on social media the scenes were “confronting and they should never have happened”.
“I have had direct conversations with the premier, minister for police and commissioner of police to express the deep concerns of our community,” he said.
“I welcome the police commissioner’s commitment to review the event and ensure that every officer is accountable for their actions.
“This is a city where people can express different views.”
NSW Police said Commissioner Mal Lanyon contacted several Muslim leaders on Monday night to reassure the community of its commitment to an ongoing relationship.
“At no stage did officers intend to cause offence to community members,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.
“We understand the significance of worshippers being able to observe religious prayers; officers had issued a move-on direction to the entire crowd for public safety reasons.
“Police were responding to a dynamic and fast-moving situation with the goal, to ensure community safety.”