Kerala: Case against 2 Australian Tourists in Kochi For Vandalising Pro-Palestine Posters

Two female foreign tourists have been booked in Kerala’s Kochi for allegedly destroying pro-Palestine boards erected by an Islamist student outfit in the port city. Both women are reportedly from Australia and have been under IPC Section 153 for wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot.

Police said the incident was reported from the Fort Kochi police station limit on Monday evening.

A video of the foreigners arguing with the locals over the posters went viral on social media. In the clip, one of the women can be heard saying that the poster was “insulting” to the Jewish people, while another made a video of the interaction on her phone.

The video shows a woman tourist in a blue dress engaging in heated arguments allegedly with SIO activists after tearing down the banners.

A asks her to clear the littered pieces of the poster she destroyed to which the woman refuses. “I did it for the Jewish people. You are promoting propaganda and lies,” she can be heard saying.

The man then tells her that if she had a problem with the banner, she could have filed a complaint against it. To this, the woman said she did complain but they “did not take it down.”

“This is promoting sectarianism,” she said.

In reply, the man said, “There are Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, everybody. We are living in India.”

The woman then went on to say, “Jewish people are not here anymore. You guys make money off Jewish people, but there are no Jews here.”

According to a senior police officer, there were two female foreign tourists and one of them allegedly destroyed the pro-Palestine boards erected by the outfit called the Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) in front of the Jankar Jetty.

Police said the boards had contained protest messages against Israel for its attack on Palestinian territory.