All Out for Palestine Rally and March to take place in Brisbane CBD

A 10-year-old boy and Greens politicians are among those who addressed the 5000-strong crowd at a pro-Palestine rally in Brisbane on Sunday.

A 10-year-old boy and Greens politicians are among those who addressed the 5000-strong crowd at a pro-Palestine rally in Brisbane on Sunday.

Activists are calling on the Australian Government to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East at the All Out For Palestine Rally and March.

Several children were at the rally. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The event, described as one of the biggest pro-Palestine rallies in Brisbane, started at the Queens Gardens at 1pm, with demonstrators later marching to the front of the ABC Headquarters at South Bank.

Hosted by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin, the event was held in response to the conflict in the Middle East.

Raza, 10, took to the Brisbane stage to talk about the horror of seeing fellow children getting killed in Palestine.

Protesters gather in central Brisbane for the All Out For Palestine 12-month anniversary of Israel's response to October 7 Hamas attack. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“More children are dying every day because medical supplies are being blocked,” he said.

“Kids are being starved with no food and water being allowed through.

“Their future has been stolen, their schools are gone.

“This is inhumane, this is a greater violation of humanity.

“What would you do if it was your own son or daughter? Would you just stay silent and keep watching?”

Thousands attended the Brisbane rally. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Greens candidate for Moreton Remah Naji earlier told the crowd that over the past year the standards of human decency has been lowered.

“Over the past 12 months, we sit together in our thousands, we’ve occupied weapons companies, we occupied complicit MPs offices,” she said.

“I don’t have to look inside my tired self in search of words to help you understand that killing children is wrong.

“I don’t need to tell you about the devastating death toll, about the destroyed hospitals, schools and universities, the tide of journalists, medics and aids workers, the unforgiving eyes of Palestinian children, or the wiping out of entire family bloodlines from the records of civil registry.

“The standards of human decency have been lowered, this past year has revealed so much.”

Greens candidate Remah Naji at the rally. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Ms Naji also acknowledged the demonstrators who hoisted the Palestinian flag on a crane next to parliament.

According to Ms Naji, Sunday’s rally was one of the biggest rallies held in the city over the past 12 months.

Former Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan agreed it was one of the larger turnouts he had seen at a rally.

“I came because I’m disgusted that the Australian Government is continuing to support Israeli’s genocidal invasion of Palestine and now Lebanon. I think it’s reprehensible that the Australian Government is providing military and diplomatic support to Israel,” Mr Sriranganathan said.

Jonathan Sri joined as protesters in Brisbane. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“There are many conflicts around the world, but I think because Australia treats Israel as a military ally, it’s particularly important to stand up for Palestine.

“It’s a long time since I’ve seen this many people at a Palestine rally.

“The rallies have been happening on a regular basis for a year now, but the fact that so many people have showed up for this one tells us how many people really care about it.”

Mr Sriranganathan supported the call for a permanent ceasefire and sanctions against Israel.

“I think everyone here, I would expect, would agree that we need strong sanctions against this military invasion,” he said.

“The harm and the suffering that Israel is causing is just shocking.

“I think people, I think more and more people, are recognising just how brutal the Israeli regime is what they forget is that Australia is directly supporting Israel.

“Australia’s hands are not clean in this.”

In calling for the Australian Government to sanction Israel, Member for Griffith Max Chandler-Mather said it was crucial to build a politics of hope over the coming months and years.

“Over the next few months and years, it is incumbent upon us to be serious about trying to build a politics of hope that ultimately can win, and that means putting aside our petty differences,” Mr Chandler-Mather said.

Protesters at the Brisbane rally. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“It means building a politics that recognising a single mum choosing between feeding her kids and paying the rent shares far more in common with a family in Gaza than they do with a billionaire or an arms manufacturer or a Labor liberal politician in Canberra.

“And so over the next few months and years, keep showing up to the rallies, but find ways to help build a political movement that ultimately can win, that ultimately forces the Australian Government to sanction the State of Israel, to end to arms trade with Israel, and build the politics that recognises a common humanity, a common love, and recognises that, ultimately, that politics can win.”

Justice for Palestine Magan-djin representative Omar Ashour said the group, which has held weekly and fortnightly rallies, wanted to hold a large rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the most recent conflict.

“This has been going on, obviously, for too long, and it’s still going on,” Mr Ashour said.

“I wanted to bring it back to the centre of attention.”

Mr Ashour said it was heartening to see such a large crowd gather.

“The pro-Palestinian base in Brisbane is very big, and not everyone always have the time to come to the weekly rallies,” he said.

“But when there’s something this big, the people show up.”

Mr Ashour said now was the time for sanctions to be imposed on Israel.

“We are demanding the Australian Government to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and to call out Israel’s war crimes,” he said.

“This is not the time for diplomacy when a genocide is ongoing and we’re asking for sanctions, sanctions in accordance with international law against all the Israeli perpetrators of the genocide and also an arms trade embargo.”

Mr Ashour added that the pro-Palestinian cause was a movement for humanity.

“Well, you look at the groups that come to the rallies, always, they’re so diverse, in age, in ethnicity, in sexuality, everyone is represented here,” he said.

“And that’s because the Palestinian cause, you know, is such a human cause that touches every human.”

A woman and baby at Sunday’s rally. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The demonstration took place in the days following the first anniversary of the devastating Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that triggered a war which has sparked protests worldwide and risks igniting a far wider conflict in the Middle East.

It also comes after tearful Queensland families spoke of their fear and the drama of last-ditch evacuations from Lebanon amid Israeli air strikes, after an Australian Government-funded repatriation flight arrived at Brisbane International Airport on Wednesday.

Intense Israeli attacks may have forced up to a million people to flee parts of Lebanon in possibly the worst displacement crisis in the country’s history.

After the rally, demonstrators marched over Victoria Bridge, shouting various chants as traffic started to build up on the Riverside Expressway.

Organisers of the All Out for Palestine Rally and March are calling for the Australian Government to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East.

“As the genocide in Palestine continues we are calling on our government to demand a permanent ceasefire, we are calling for sanctions and divestment. In the face of adversity we do not back down, we rise, time and time again and we are fuelled by the ongoing Palestinian resistance,” the event description read.

“We need to continue to demand liberation for Palestine. Call on our government to cut ties with Israel. Call to stop the genocide! And freedom for Palestine! Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Now!

“We will not stop protesting for Palestine.”