Students, teachers lead Brisbane ‘Free Palestine’ rally

A Year 4 boy was among the speakers at a ‘free Palestine’ rally in Brisbane on Sunday, slamming the Federal Government for its stance on the war in Gaza.

Students and education workers attended the rally.

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Hundreds have gathered in support of the “free Palestine” movement in Brisbane on Sunday.

Organised by Justice for Palestine Meanjin, supporters of the movement were protesting at the Queens Gardens in the CBD to stop the war on Gaza and called on students, teachers and education workers to lead the protest.

Some students chose to don their school uniforms for the protest, holding signs with the words “stop bombing Gazan schools” and “dead kids can’t go to school”.

MC of the protest, Queensland University Student Malak Seleem, thanked the amount of students, teachers and education workers who had shown support for the cause.

“Today’s theme is to also commend students of Australia who walked out of school and put their fists in the air,” Ms Seleem said.

Year 4 student Raza Mehdi, 9, stood up in front of the hundreds of protestors to say he had “completely lost trust in the Australian Government”.

“They are supporting Israel while knowing they are killing innocent children,” he said.

“They know they are stopping children from going to school, shame on you!”

Year 4 student Raza Mehdi spoke at the rally.

Link and Milo from Runcorn State High School.

Rebecca Davis said she attended as a part of the education system and said there needed to be a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

“Kids should be thinking about playing, homework, boyfriends and girlfriends. But now they’re thinking about whether they are going to live tomorrow, if they’re families are going to live tomorrow,” she said.

“It’s not how the world should be … one child is dying every nine minutes. We still need to be protesting and raising awareness.”

A speaker on behalf of the cause, author and youth advocate Lamees, said the history of violence in Gaza had been ignored by academics and politicians alike.

Students and education workers attended the rally.

“How many more children? How many more minutes? How many more men have to murder innocent kids,” she said

“I think this is personal. The genocide in Gaza isn’t just about the bombs that drop today, it is everything that ricochets from the moment it falls … it will spread through generations.”

School student Naomi added that the violence needed to stop and that every night she hoped and prayed for her family.

“Seventy-five years of ethnic cleansing yet here I stand … when will I be able to see my family and the places they’ve always wanted me to see,” she said

“When will I get to pick straight off the tree without the fear of bombs and military invading my family?”

Hundreds gathered for the protest on Sunday.

The crowd followed the speeches chanting “Albanese you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” and “long love Gaza”, as well as a song for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking “which side are you on?”

Some of the schools whose students had shown support of the “free Gaza” movement include Indooroopilly State School, Kedron State High School, Lockyer Valley State School, Runcorn State High School and the Islamic College of Brisbane.

The protesters gathered at Queens Gardens in Brisbane's CBD.

The Courier Mail confirmed with students in uniform that most schools did not recommend wearing their uniforms to the protest.

There was a heavy police presence as the peaceful protest moved down Adelaide St.

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies Jason Steinberg condemned organisers of the Palestinian rally for encouraging students to wear their uniforms and lead the march.

“Today’s rally using children in school uniform is unacceptable,” Mr Steinberg told The Courier-Mail.

“There were (some) children holding placards such as ‘from the river to the sea Palestine will be free’ and what is sad about that is I don’t think those children understand what those words mean.”

Mr Steinberg said children using the words from a terrorist organisation like Hamas turns them into “a propaganda piece” and that it does not fit with Queensland values.

“When there are chants like that in the streets, it makes Jewish people feel unsafe,” he added.

Originally published as Students, teachers lead Brisbane ‘Free Palestine’ rally