Palestinian ‘martyrs’ mourned at Sydney protest vigil

About 800 pro-Palestinian mourners swamped the Sydney CBD on Monday night, with speakers condemning the ‘genocidal state’ of Israel and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Pro-Palestine supporters hold a rally outside Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday evening. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

About 800 mourners lamenting the loss of Palestinian “martyrs” during the conflict in the Middle East swamped the Sydney CBD on Monday night, with speakers condemning the “genocidal state” of Israel and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

The crowd, which gathered next to Town Hall, listened to prayers, supplications and spoken word poems to mourn “365 days of brutal bloodshed and genocide” that began on the anniversary of Hamas’s brutal attack killing more than 1200 Jews in southern Israel.

A smaller group of 500 protesters gathered late on Monday night on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road, where speakers accused Israeli forces of being “sadistic, disgusting, outrageous” in their operations in the Gaza Strip over the past year.

Pro-Palestine supporters hold a rally in the western Sydney Muslim heartland of Lakemba on Monday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

In Sydney, dozens of NSW police kept close watch nearby, with mounted officers standing to attention and others marking a clear parameter around the vigil.

Palestine Action Group organiser Jana Fayyad opened the vigil with a minute’s silence, and celebrated the group’s “successful” protest on Sunday, where 10,000 attendees marched through the CBD chanting anti-Israel chants and carrying banners that included attributes of Hezbollah flags and symbols.

“Yesterday we came out in our tens of thousands and we showed the government, we showed the police, that there is no stopping the global uprising for Palestine and more specifically the global uprising against the terrorist Zionist regime,” she told the crowd.

“Aside from the protest yesterday, there was apparently a lot of controversy about this peaceful gathering and the police weren’t too happy about us gathering today to mourn 365 days of brutal bloodshed and genocide. Shame.”

She condemned the presence of police in the city, saying they were “looking to provoke” vigil attendees. “I ask you please, and kindly and respectfully, not to buy into any provocations,” she said.

“Marshals are here to protect you. Please follow the instructions of marshals and ensure you do not cross behind the police line.”

She said the purpose of the rally was to “join together to mourn and remember our fallen martyrs”.

Attendees at the vigil spelled out a sign in candles reading “365 days of Gaza genocide”. Organisers had decorated Town Hall in Palestinian and Lebanese flags.

Many attendees were wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian or Lebanese flags.

Independent Cumberland councillor Ahmed Ouf was among the first speakers, offering supplications in Arabic and condemning “Western countries” that “are still supporting the occupying force … Tens of years of killing. Tens of years of oppression, occupation. Minimum three to four generations of Palestinians have suffered,” he said.

Earlier, NSW Premier Chris Minns called the Monday protest “grossly insensitive”.