By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - Pressure continues to mount Wednesday on Australia to withdraw Canberra’s invite to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the country, according to Australian journalist Peter Cronau.
Protests are planned in 24 cities across the country, including the capital, Canberra, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne on Feb. 9 against Herzog’s visit, according to Australian journalist Peter Cronau.
“It is completely legal to attend this mass, peaceful gathering in opposition to an ongoing genocide,” said organizers, according to a post by Cronau on US social media company X.
Labor lawmakers in the Sutherland Branch have “unanimously” demanded Australian Federal Police investigate Herzog for “alleged incitement of genocide,” the Labor Friends of Palestine New South Wales wrote on X.
Labor lawmaker Ed Husic also voiced his opposition to Herzog’s visit in an interview with ABC.
He said he was "very uncomfortable" with the idea of the visit because he was "concerned that a figure like that doesn't necessarily enhance social cohesion".
Husic cited "images I have seen of him signing bombs that were then dropped onto Palestinian homes," and a quote featured in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, which is currently before the International Court of Justice.
The Australian parliament voted down a motion Tuesday to prevent Herzog’s visit.
Lawmaker Mehreen Faruqi asked Foreign Minister Penny Wong why Canberra was "inviting war criminals to this country."
"Will you rescind your divisive invitation" to Herzog, “something members of your own party have called for?” Faruqi asked Wong in parliament.
Herzog "is coming to Australia to honor the victims of the antisemitic terror attack of Bondi (beach). It's a visit that comes at a moment of great trauma for many in the Jewish Australian community," said Wong.
"Tens of thousands and likely hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, over 500 since that farce of a ceasefire. These actions are by a country you continue to call friend, trade weapons with and invite their president. Here, will you be next rolling out the welcome mat for (Russian President) Putin?” Faruqi asked Wong, pressing the foreign minister against allowing the Israeli president to visit Australia.
Herzog is expected to land in Sydney on Feb. 8 for a four-day visit.
He was invited by Prime Minister Albanese following the Bondi Beach attack in December, which killed 15 people and injured 42.
A UN Human Rights Council special commission of inquiry into the war in the Gaza Strip found last year that Israel was committing genocide, and said comments made by Herzog following the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, were evidence of genocidal intent.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced a 14-day extension of restrictions on protests ahead of planned demonstrations against Herzog’s visit, according to ABC News.
Separately, ABC reported that Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah will deliver a speech at an alternative event to this year's now-cancelled Adelaide Writers' Week, after she was uninvited from the original literary festival.