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Sydney’s mayor has cancelled a pro-Palestine meeting due to be held in a council building on Tuesday night.

The Stop The War On Palestine group had planned to hold a “Globalise the Intifada” forum at the East Sydney Community Arts Centre on Tuesday night.

But Clover Moore said on Monday night that she had asked the city’s chief executive to block the booking because public events must not “contribute to hostility and fear”.

“This evening I asked the city’s CEO to withdraw the booking of an event in a city-owned venue advertised as: ‘Why it is right to globalise the Intifada’,” she posted on Facebook.

She said she had “long supported the principles of peaceful assembly, protest and freedom of speech” but those rights “must be balanced with a responsibility to ensure public safety and respect for all members of our diverse community”.

However, Moore took a swipe at the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspapers which she said had campaigned against the event in coverage that had “exploited trauma, painting complex issues in black and white and, in bad faith, demanded our communities take sides”.

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement on Monday night that it was relieved about the decision.

“We have been engaging intensively with the council to explain why this event would endanger public safety and grievously undermine social cohesion.

“It is entirely appropriate that the City of Sydney Council has refused to provide a venue for such an event.”