A mobile billboard showing pictures of kidnapped Israelis was stopped by police while driving through Bondi on Sunday and allegedly asked to turn off the sign.
Photos from the scene, posted to X by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), showed the truck being pulled over, two officers approaching the driver, and the truck subsequently parked with its digital sign turned off.
“A truck carrying hostage posters was asked to turn the signs off in Bondi,” the AJA claimed on X.
“This is a scandal just like when the government told Jews to stay home while a mob chanted ‘gas the Jews’ at Sydney’s Opera House. If Jews aren’t safe in Bondi, are they safe anywhere in Australia? Police should focus on dealing with the threats not silencing Jews.”
The AJA added, “They were told it was a safety issue and they could display the signs in Vaucluse but not Bondi.”
It’s not clear whether this was the reason the truck was stopped and seen with its sign turned off.
“About 1.30pm yesterday, officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command were patrolling Bondi Beach, when they stopped a Mitsubishi truck – displaying video message boards — on O’Brien Street,” a NSW Police spokeswoman said.
“Police spoke to the driver, a 30-year-old man. No further police action is anticipated.”
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) last month launched hostage awareness campaign called Bring Them Home.
However news.com.au understands the mobile billboard seen in the photos is separate from the ECAJ’s campaign and is a grassroots initiative by a group of Israelis living in Sydney.
News.com.au has sought to contact the representatives from the group for comment.
AJA president David Adler wrote to NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley on Monday demanding an investigation into the “disturbing incident”.
“We can’t understand why the billboard truck was stopped and instructed to turn off the signs,” Dr Adler wrote in the letter obtained by news.com.au.
“There seems no justification for police intervention. Such trucks have been driving through Sydney for a couple of weeks. Apparently, the driver was advised not to display in Bondi but to go to Vaucluse. What law was being breached? Frankly this restrictive intervention is hurtful and offensive given the issue involved.”
Dr Adler said it was important for the Jewish community that “peaceful, reasonable messages such as calling for the return of hostages can be made publicly, and the police should be protecting our rights to do so and dealing appropriately with any disrupters”.
“We call on you to confirm that the free speech for Jewish community will be protected and we are able to express our concerns publicly,” he said. “We ask that you initiate an urgent investigation into what happened yesterday in Bondi and order that it must not happen again.”
Ms Catley has been contacted for comment.
The Minns government has previously come under fire after allegedly advising the Jewish community to stay home amid pro-Palestinian protests.
In early October, more than 1000 protesters stormed the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House where a group of people chanted “f**k the Jews” and “gas the Jews” and burned the Israeli flag.
Attorney-General Michael Daley appeared for a trainwreck interview with 2GB host Ben Fordham the following morning, where he admitted he was unaware of the previous night’s events and suggested “all people should stay home for their own safety”.
Ms Catley later denied reports, which cited sources from within the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, that she told Sydney’s Jewish community to “stay at home” during the rally.
“I reject the reports I misled parliament,” she said in a statement at the time.
“I had several conversations with the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies on Monday … during these conversations, I relayed [that] the police were concerned about the large crowd of demonstrators … and that it was volatile and there were concerns the situation could become dangerous.”
Last week, NSW Police fined two men after they removed several hostage posters at Bondi Beach.
The men were filmed ripping down the posters, which were placed along with more than 230 blue-and-white towels over the railing at Bondi Beach.
Video of the incident showed the men arguing with members of the Jewish community who were attending the grassroots vigil on Thursday.
NSW Police said on Friday that two men had been issued fines after removing posters from the art installation at about 2pm.
Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command officers later spoke to a 25-year-old Granville man and a 40-year-old Bankstown man. Both men were issued criminal infringement notices for offensive behaviour, which carry a fine of $500 each.
ECAJ co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin welcomed the fines.
“This sends the right message that as Australians we don’t vandalise peaceful, dignified displays,” he said.
“We wouldn’t rip down posters about missing dogs much less posters honouring 240 people living through the hell of captivity by sadistic killers. The police should be commended for their swift action.”
Meanwhile, a ranger with North Sydney Council was seen removing the posters last week.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports councils around the city are taking different approaches to political material related to the conflict, with some allowing the posters to stay up and some, like North Sydney, ordering them taken down.
Community tensions have flared following the outbreak of war in Israel and Gaza.
Hamas terrorists killed 1400 Israelis and kidnapped around 240 during the bloody October 7 attacks on southern Israel. Hamas claims nearly 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza.
Both the Jewish and Muslim communities in Australia say they have experienced a spike in racist sentiment towards them.
Six former Australian leaders signed an open letter on October 30 calling on Australians to respect the country’s multicultural character.
“Whatever is happening elsewhere in the world, there is no place in our country for racial or religious hatred,” the letter states.
“And there is no more tenaciously evil race hatred than anti-Semitism.”
frank.chung@news.com.au
— with NCA NewsWire