Leading pro-Palestinian activist refuses to condemn the burning of the Australian flag during protests in Melbourne
Protesters have burnt the Australian flag in Melbourne in a move slammed as "deplorable" by the Victorian Premier, but a leading pro-Palestine activist has dismissed it as just a "piece of silk".
Australia-Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Ashni was responding to questions on 3AW after a video emerged of two protestors burning the Australian flag during a demonstration in Melbourne on Sunday.
Mr Ashni was asked by host Tom Elliot whether he saw a video that showing two masked protestors burning the Australian flag.
Conceding he had "heard it reported", Mr Ashni quickly pivoted to praise the number of people who came out in Melbourne and Sydney to protest.
"We should be concentrating on what? The majority, the overwhelming majority," he said.
Elliot pressed Mr Ashni to condemn the action, to which he eventually responded: “It's a flag, a piece of silk, I don't think anybody should be doing it, but I'm not condemning anybody."
“(If) I'm going to be condemning anybody it's the inaction of our government and the continued genocide happening in Palestine.”
https://x.com/iamthenas/status/1951860825280663838