‘Heartbroken but not beaten’: Thousands join Palestine rally

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters rallied for the eighth consecutive Sunday in Melbourne’s CBD, two days since fighting resumed in the Middle East after a weeklong truce.

Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian writer living in Melbourne, told the crowd that many of her family in Gaza had died during Israel’s bombing campaign since Hamas attacked on October 7, and that she was “heartbroken, but not beaten”.

Thousands gather outside the State Library to support Palestinians after the ceasefire in the Middle East on Friday.Credit: Madeleine Heffernan

Nasser Mashni, president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, told The Age at the rally that the conflict had dehumanised Palestinian people.

“We are so othered, and it hurts,” he said.

Protestors rally in support of Palestinians in Melbourne’s CBD for the 8th consecutive week.Credit: Madeleine Heffernan

The protesters listened to speeches outside the State Library, holdings signs such as “This is a war on children”, “Only kids in Gaza know how to play hide and seek with death” and “Bombing children is not self-defence”.

Police estimated that 5000 people attended the rally, but rally organisers and some observers put the figure higher, at 30,000.

Veteran Indigenous activist Professor Gary Foley, of Victoria University, said words were mightier than any “military mindset that Israel might be deploying now”.

“I see huge crowds that are starting to appear around the world in support of the Palestinian people,” he said. “You can’t conduct an exercise in horror, as is happening right now, without there being consequences further down the track. What is a young Palestinian person in the midst of all this chaos, what are they supposed to think?”

Christy Cain, national secretary of the CFMEU, called for an indefinite ceasefire. “That is genocide and that is an apartheid, and we will call it out,” he said.

“We want fuel to get through. We want electricity and fresh water. We want food to get through to the Palestinians living in Gaza.”

Hamas killed 1200 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages during an attack on southern Israel on October 7. Since then, the Health Ministry says the overall death toll in Gaza has risen to more than 15,200, including at least 200 since the ceasefire ended on Friday, AP reports. 

Police estimates of attendance at the Sunday rallies held each week since October 10 have waxed and waned – between 10,000 on the first Sunday and as high as 45,000 three weeks ago. The Melbourne rally was last week addressed by federal MP Lidia Thorpe.

US Vice President Kamala Harris has described the “scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming out of Gaza” as devastating.

With Rachael Dexter, AP

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