52 weeks of protesting Israel’s war on Gaza: Tens of thousands demand a permanent ceasefire

October 7, 2024

Issue

Tens of thousands of protesters demand a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Photo: Zebedee Parkes

New South Wales Labor and the NSW Police’s attempt to shut down week 52 of the peaceful pro-Palestine protests on October 6 backfired, as it was one of the biggest protests this year to march on Gadigal Country/Sydney though the CBD.

, including the Australian Council of Social Service, Community Legal Centres NSW, Australian Services Union NSW ACT and NSW Council for Civil Liberties, called on Australian governments to respect fundamental protest rights.

Geoffrey Watson SC, director of The Centre for Public Integrity and the Grata Fund, said: “The freedom to protest peacefully is an essential characteristic of a healthy democracy. A blanket ban like this is anti-democratic. We have legal protections against dangerous, violent, or offensive conduct. It is those laws that should be applied if necessary, but hopefully there will be no need.”

There was no need.

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for holding a sign equating the state of Israel to the Nazi regime. He was charged under Section 93ZA of the , which makes it an offence to “knowingly display” a Nazi symbol “without a reasonable excuse”. Many would argue he had one.

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The only arrest made at the Sydney rally was for holding this sign equating Israel to Nazi Germany. Photo: Indrek Torilo

A similarly large and diverse protest was organised in Naarm/Melbourne. Smaller, although just as spirited, protests took place in Boorloo/Perth, Kaurna Yerta/Adelaide and Tharawal/Wollongong.

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Part of the enormous crowd in Naarm/Melbourne. Photo: Chloe DS

Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Senator Lidia Thorpe told the rally in Naarm that it is up to activists to teach future generations about resistance and respect for human rights.

Gumbainggir activist and historian Professor Gary Foley called out Labor’s hypocrisy in criminalising the Hezbollah flag while allowing Australian citizens to fight for the Israel Defence Forces.

Adel Salman, president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, also addressed mainstream media and politicians’ focus on flags, calling it “an attempt to distract us”.

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Naarm/Melbourne. Photo: Chloe DS

Christy Cain, former Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union national secretary, criticised Labor for attacking the pro-Palestine solidarity and union movements.

“We are going to march alongside you until you get your country back, right until the end ... Until there is peace for all.”

Ohad Kozminsky, from the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), rejected claims that Israel is representative of all Jews, calling for human rights to be applied without exception, and defended wherever they are violated.

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Naarm/Melbourne. Photo: Chloe DS

Commenting on the Gadigal rally, said on X: “The overwhelming message from a crowd of young and old, students, families, people with disabilities, Arabs, Jews, Anglos & everything in between was demanding a ceasefire now and basic human rights for Palestinians & fear for Lebanon.”

Huge concerns that Israel — with the United States’ backing — is spreading its war to Lebanon, and potentially Iran, would have motivated more people to support the anniversary protests.

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Another factor would have been the mainstream slander, including from the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and deputy PM Richard Marles, that those taking part in the protests are antisemitic.

This lie was powerfully rejected by rally speakers, as well as several anti-Zionist Jewish protesters, including author Antony Loewenstein, who said he had never “felt unsafe” at protests and that “occupation is not a Jewish value”.

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Jews Against the Occupation '48 in Gadigal Country/Sydney. Photo: Indrek Torilo

The said on October 7 that “Israel’s actions and ongoing campaigns of violence against Palestinians, which started well before October 7, only serve to make all people in the region unsafe.

“As some families of the hostages put it: ‘Netanyahu is dragging the region into all-out war, for his own personal motives. Hostages and residents on all sides of all borders be damned.’”

that huge protests were organised across the world to mark the year of war, including in London, Rome, Manila, Caracas, Paris, Jakarta, Madrid and Hamburg, and many more regional towns in countries across the globe.

A solemn vigil on October 7 in front of Sydney Town Hall on Gadigal Country included multi-faith prayers, beginning with the Kaddish, the Jewish Prayer for the Dead, followed by Christian and Muslim prayers and supplications.

This peaceful and inclusive event, organised by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, gave the lie to the Zionist scare campaign that tried to silence the movement for Palestine and Lebanon solidarity by falsely branding it “antisemitic”.

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The Big Ride for Palestine begins in Magan-djin/Brisbane. Photo: Lachlan Hurse

The Big Ride for Palestine in Magan-djin/Brisbane on October 5 began around the Brisbane River. Further Big Rides are planned for October 13, 19 and 20 in several places around the country. It is raising funds for aid projects in Palestine via .

The main 12-month anniversary rally in Magan-djin/Brisbane will be held on October 13.