Brisbane’s biggest rally for Palestine in history. Source: Justice For Palestine Meanjin – Brisbane on Facebook
This weekend saw the biggest rallies for Palestine ever across major cities in Australia, including Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Both Brisbane and Melbourne recorded their biggest Palestine rallies, with around 8,000 in Brisbane and an estimated over 50,000 in Melbourne.
Sydney also braved the rainy weather and drew in a crowd of around 15,000.
In Brisbane, protesters walked through the city and across Victoria bridge to the ABC headquarters in South Bank to protest biased, inaccurate reporting.
These protests come in the midst of Israel’s relentless bombardments on residential homes, schools, hospitals, and refugee camps in Gaza, often with illegal, internationally banned white phosphorus bombs, which cause long-term severe burns.
As of the 5th of November, there has been a reported 9,770 Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli forces, including 4,008 children, all in less than a month.
On top of the staggering death toll, thousands more civilians are still buried under the rubble.
“It’s difficult, what has been broadcasted in the Western media is definitely not reflecting what is on the ground,” said Abdullah Ali, who attended the rally in Sydney.
“What I see is different … I see parts of children being put in plastic bags, it’s extremely hard for anyone to see.”
Despite thousands across Australia and millions across the world demanding an immediate ceasefire, the Australian government continues to support Israel’s actions.
On the 8th of October, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged Australia’s support to Israel, recognising “Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Australia was also among a minority group of countries who abstained from a UN vote calling for a humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, claiming that the vote “failed to recognise Hamas as the perpetrators of the October 7th attack.”
The Israeli repression and killing of Palestinians, however, long out-dates Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, beginning in 1947 with the Nakba or ‘catastrophe’ in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homeland, and tens of thousands were killed.
The Nakba is marked on May 15th every year, and is a remembrance day for Palestinian people around the world.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to continue bombarding civilians in Gaza despite worldwide calls for a ceasefire.
Protests are set to continue, and are expected to keep growing in numbers, across Australia and the world.
