Several thousand people attended a pro-Palestine rally in Melbourne on Sunday, one day before the October 7 anniversary of the Hamas attacks, as protesters called for a ceasefire and greater intervention from Australian politicians to prevent further civilian deaths in the war engulfing the Middle East.
The rallies have been held every Sunday for the past 12 months. Politicians from both major parties criticised this weekend’s march as insensitive and divisive as it clashed with the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
Protest organiser Nasser Mashni said before the protest, the use of Hezbollah flags the previous week was an “unnecessary distraction”.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman thanked politicians for providing “free publicity” to the rally, which organisers said attracted at least 50,000 people, the largest since November. However, Victoria Police put the crowd figure about 7000.
Police were on alert for any terror-related symbols, after protesters waved Hezbollah flags at the previous weekend’s rally.
Police said four people were arrested for “public order related matters”, but there were otherwise no major issues at the event.
“There were no displays of prohibited symbols at today’s protest,” a police spokesperson said. “Overall, police were pleased with the behaviour of attendees.”
One protester held a placard displaying a swastika within a Star of David, while most called for a “Free Palestine” and “ceasefire now”, or cited death tolls from the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. One group held posters with photographs of Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ruhollah Khomeini, who established Iran as an Islamic republic.
Outside the Victorian State Library, protest organiser Nasser Mashni said the movement rejected hate in all forms, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. “We are a movement of love. A movement of equality, a movement of belonging.”
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe addressed the crowd, saying the genocide of Indigenous Australians was caused by a “a colonial oppressive regime that is also complicit in the genocide in Palestine”.
Jewish Council of Australia member Ohad Kozminsky said there cannot be any justification for “criminal human rights breaches” of Palestinians, and Israel’s actions had been “shielded shamefully by weaponised charges of antisemitism”.
“I have been attending these rallies for a year now. Together, we have called for a ceasefire, an end to occupation, an end to apartheid, an end to ethnic cleansing, an end to genocide, and we have called for a free Palestine,” he said.
Melbourne councillor and lord mayoral candidate Jamal Hakim later told the crowd he would protect protest rights, as NSW Police sought to shut down events in Sydney. “Melbourne is a city for all,” he said.
The event was held as the conflict deepens and the death toll rises in the Middle East. One year since militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1100 and taking about 250 hostages, Israel’s retaliation has killed more than 41,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. This week, Israel launched a ground invasion and bombing campaign in Lebanon, killing thousands and displacing more than one million people, while Iran launched more than 180 missiles at Israel.
Lebanese-Palestinian woman Hanady, who declined to share her surname, held a Lebanese flag as she marched down Swanston Street. She said: “I’m not here for any institution or body. I’m here for the citizens of my country and my people.”
Another group of protesters held yellow and green flags, colours associated with Hezbollah, while some Sydney protesters used images of Ned Kelly in flags that mimicked the Hezbollah design.
Federal legislation prohibits images linked to terror groups with the aim of inciting violence or hatred. The Australian Federal Police has established a taskforce to investigate whether displaying the Hezbollah flag breached these laws.
Protester Ahmad, who held a green and yellow flag and did not want to share his surname, was asked whether it was an attempt to avoid rules against terror symbols. “They make the laws, and we haven’t broken any. Yellow and green is the colour of Islam...and the colours of peace.”
Protester Jasmine Duff, a Deakin University student who was in the Students For Palestine group that organised campus protests this year, said university management had disciplined and targeted students for their activism, but they would not stop.
“When you stand against the powerful, the powerful always try to stop you – generations of young people have endured the same.”
Protesters interviewed by this masthead said they wanted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to be more proactive in ending the war by pushing for a ceasefire, cutting diplomatic ties with Israel and applying economic sanctions.
“I’ve been a lifelong Labor supporter,” said protester Kit, who did not want to share her surname, but said she would no longer vote Labor. “The hypocrisy of the Australian government is shameful.”
Melbourne resident Erin Tsubono said: “I’m here because I’m human. I care about justice.”
This was echoed by another protester, Lee, who did not want to share their surname, but said they’ve attended around a third of all protests, which have been held weekly for the past year. “I’m here just because I’m human. The killing has to stop.”
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