Pro-Israel, Palestine rallies descend onto city streets in day of protest
Anthony Albanese and Labor have become targets of the nation’s increasingly angry pro-Palestine movement, as tens of thousands marched in Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday.
Anthony Albanese and Labor have become targets of the nation’s growing and increasingly angry pro-Palestine movement, as tens of thousands marched in Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday.
Mammoth pro-Palestine rallies saw the two biggest CBDs in the country enveloped in a sea of white, red, green and black – amid calls to “free Palestine” and accusations the Prime Minister was supporting genocide.
In Sydney, organised by the Palestinian Action Group, Sunday’s rally was the largest yet – the group has organised a weekly rally since Hamas’s attacks on October 7 – with tens of thousands of people congregating in the CBD’s Hyde Park.
The march, from Hyde Park to Belmore Park, towards Sydney’s Chinatown, heard the usual chants of “free, free Palestine”, but also those accusing the Prime Minister, Israel and the US of supporting genocide. “Albanese you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” the crowd chanted.
Marchers at the front of the procession could also be heard chanting: “Israel, USA – how many kids did you kill today?”
Sydney’s Jewish community gathered in their hundreds on Sunday and shone a light on the continued plight of about 200 people held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Empty prams and empty shoes – representing each Jewish person taken hostage by Hamas – decked Sydney’s Martin Place, before protesters marched to Circular Quay. Addressing the crowd, organiser Avi Efrat said the Australian Jewish community would not be cowed by the escalating conflict.
“The reason we are doing (this) in the city is to give back confidence to the Jewish community in Australia and in Sydney,” he said.
“Some of our community is scared to even go out. I have an answer to these people: not under this generation. This generation is a different generation. We will not be scared, we will come here and say what we have to say.”
A similar pro-Israel demonstration took place simultaneously in Melbourne's Caulfield Park.
Zara Hussein, in attendance at the pro-Palestine rally with her family, told The Australian she hoped the march would send a notice to federal and state governments to change their stance on the conflict.
“We’re here for the freedom of Palestinian children,” she said.
“It’s now about saving Palestine, not just freeing it.
“It’s unfair on the children, we are here to fight for those children, and the elderly, who are not fighting. We’ve had enough and we won’t be silent anymore.”
The scenes in Sydney were mirrored in Melbourne, where about 10,000 marched down Swanson St in support of Palestine.
The rallies took place as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “destroy the enemy above ground and below ground”.
“This is the second stage of the war whose goals are clear – to destroy Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and to bring the hostages home,” Mr Netanyahu said.
The federal government has supported Israel’s right to defend itself after the bloody incursion by Hamas in Israel that killed 1400 people on October 7.
In Gaza, the death toll has climbed to 7650, according to the Palestinian health ministry, since Israeli airstrikes began three weeks ago.
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