Australia may stop-and-search pro-Palestinian protesters

STORY: New South Wales Acting Commissioner Dave Hudson told a news conference on Friday state police had sought legal advice about special powers not used since race riots in 2005 that would allow police to search and demand the identity without cause of those attending the pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney on Sunday (October 15). Police expect more than four hundred people to attend the protest in Sydney's Hyde Park.The planned demonstration has touched off nationwide debate after footage from a Monday (October 9) rally by the same group showed people chanting "gas the jews." Organisers claim a fringe group of "vile" antisemites attended and were told to leave.Protest organizer Palestine Action Group Sydney have said Sunday's rally will go ahead without police authorisation, and defended the right to demonstrate after calls from politicians across the political spectrum to cancel the event.