The weekly pro-Palestine protests that have brought Melbourne’s CBD to a standstill every Sunday for a year and a half will become monthly after this weekend’s rally following the ceasefire in Gaza.
However, organisers have vowed to demonstrate more frequently or call snap actions if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire breaks down and Israel bombs Gaza again.
A pro-Palestinian protest in Melbourne in October last year.Credit: AAP
Protesters, often in the thousands, have been congregating in the city centre calling for a Palestinian state and condemning the Israeli government’s military response to Hamas’ attack on southern Israel in October 2023.
While the protests have largely been non-violent, they have attracted widespread public scrutiny. At a rally last September, several people waved flags with symbols of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group and sponsor of terrorism with staunch anti-Israel views.
On Wednesday afternoon, Australian Federal Police released new images as part of their ongoing investigation into that incident.
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said he was proud that Melbourne was the only city in the world to have protested every week since October 7, 2023, with this Sunday’s protest to be the 71st consecutive rally.
He said the frequency and consistency of the rallies – which at their peak attracted more than 20,000 protesters – had a measurable impact.
“What they’ve done is created a space for a movement for justice in Palestine to grow,” he said.
“Palestine has never been an electoral issue in Australia before. We will see in the upcoming (federal) election that it will be a vote-winner and a vote-coster for those who don’t have a principled position on Palestine.”
Organisers also urged supporters to use the time between monthly protests to promote the rallies “far and wide” with posters and social media updates.
Protesters mark the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks in central Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images
In December, Premier Jacinta Allan called for the end of the weekly Melbourne rallies, saying they were intimidating Jewish people.
At the time, Mashni said the weekly protests would continue and said on Wednesday that government pressure was not a factor in the decision to reduce the frequency of the protests.
“The move to monthly is about creating a space where we can think more deeply about more strategic actions,” he said.
“It doesn’t preclude snap actions – I imagine as the ceasefire falls apart and the genocide continues that we will be out in the days and hours after.”
The announcement of fewer protests follows the beginning of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last month.
That deal is still in its initial six-week stage involving the release of Israeli hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Hamas militants killed around 1200 people in the October 2023 attack, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250, of whom about 100 are still being held. Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the West Bank since then are estimated to have killed at least 62,000 people.
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