Thousands gather for peaceful pro-Palestine protest
Crowds booed NSW Premier Chris Minns for attempting to block peaceful pro-Palestine rally.
Six-thousand people descended on Sydney’s CBD for a peaceful pro-Palestine rally, despite the NSW Premier and Police Commissioner warning protesters not to attend and stationing a thousand police across the city.
Protesters, who included hundreds of Sydney families, booed Premier Chris Minns for attempting to block Sunday’s Hyde Park protest and for lighting up of the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag.
“We’ve seen this week an oppressive anti-democratic environment, shamefully whipped up by the media and our Premier Chris Minns,” Palestinian Action Group Co-organiser Josh Lees said to shouts of “shame” and loud booing.
Another co-organiser Fahad Ali said the Minns government and the world could “no longer turn a blind eye” as thousands showed up to support Palestine.
Early-on, organisers warned those present not to chant anti-Semitic slurs, after a “tiny, tiny group of people” did so at the Sydney Opera House steps on Monday evening.
“If anyone begins to chant anti-Semitic slogans, you have to tell them to shut up. It’s wrong and racist,” Mr Lees said. “They (the police, government and media) are looking for any excuse to crack down on us.”
NSW Police applauded the “largely peaceful” nature of the protest on Sunday, amid “fruitful discussions” with organisers. They confirmed no arrests were made.
Special stop and search powers touted earlier this week as potentially being used by NSW Police were not needed, Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke said, but were made available given “clear and serious concerns” concerns on Monday.
Mahmoud Hijazi, who grew up in an Israeli border town in Lebanon, brought his three year-old son Ali to the protest having painted a red handprint over his mouth.
“In 2006, I was 16 years-old in Lebanon when the war happened. When I see babies that have been pulled out from under rubble, I saw that without cameras, I saw that in front of me in 2006,” Mahmoud said, beginning to cry.
“I pulled out a baby from the rubble when I was 16. And now that I’ve got a son, and every time I look at him, when I see the images overseas, it’s our brothers, it’s our sisters, it’s our children, it’s our parents … That will never leave me,” he said.
“When the news stations overseas put out their names, it’s names like my name. It’s names like my sons name. I need him to grow up knowing this. I need him to grow up understanding what’s going on in the world.”
“Bringing my son here is of the upmost importance. I wouldn’t leave him even if there was a certain danger … I know we’re still safer than (the Gazans) are, no matter what happens here today.”
Palestinian-Australian Sukoon Quteifan kept repeating “nobody cares for us” as she stood with her two young kids aged 8 and 5, holding signs that said “Justice for Palestine”.
“I am third generation Palestinian. My father was one years-old when his family had to run away from the Israeli brutal occupation in 1948,” she told The Australian.
“We are here. We want to show solidarity with the innocent people in Gaza.
“This is the only thing we can do for them is to be here today. And we have been feeling very sad and heartbroken since this started happening. We can’t do anything for our people. And I would like to ask the Prime Minister to also show solidarity with us.”
Ms Quteifan has lived in Australia for nine years.
“They showed the solidarity to the other side. What about us – Muslims? What about us? There’s so many Australian-Muslims here. You don’t care for them. We are good Australian citizens … But what about us? What about our feelings?”
