Thousands rally in Sydney, Melbourne to support Palestinians
Palestinians are suffering an attempted genocide in Gaza, speakers at rallies in Sydney and Melbourne were told on Sunday. The protests were held under heavy police security and ended with no trouble reported. Thousands gathered in Sydney, Melbourne to rally against the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Speakers from the Palestine Action Group denounced a “tiny minority” who made antisemitic chants at the earlier Opera House demonstration. The University of NSW Associate Professor Peter Slezak said “we must be able to mourn both Palestinian and Israeli deaths” and that the police and government have made shameful attempts to silence us. The rally concluded with prayers from members of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths, which were greeted with cheers by the large crowd in attendance. The group, which organised the rally, have applied for a permit to stage a march in Sydney’s CBD on Saturday.
نشرت : منذ عامين بواسطة Maxim Shanahan في Politics
The crowd, led by outgoing Greens senator Janet Rice, chanted “free, free Palestine” and heard speeches, under the watch of police.
“This is genocide, this is ethnic cleansing,” one speaker said.
In Sydney, speakers from the Palestine Action Group denounced a “tiny minority” who made antisemitic chants at the earlier Opera House demonstration.
“The attack on Israelis was said to be unprovoked, but was, in fact, a desperate break out from a concentration camp,” the crowd was told.
“The people of Gaza have been under an inhumane blockade for the last 16 years … what did Israel or the world community expect?
“It’s not self-defence to starve the people of Gaza. That’s pure barbarity and a crime against international law.”
University of NSW Associate Professor Peter Slezak, who is Jewish, told the crowd “we must be able to mourn both Palestinian and Israeli deaths”.
“We can’t ignore the recent atrocities perpetrated on Israeli civilians,” Professor Slezak said.
Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi told the rally Israel is committing war crimes, and has “signalled the genocide of Gaza”.
“The atrocities being committed by Israel are war crimes. They are the very definition of collective punishment,” she said.
“The NSW police and government have made shameful attempts to silence us and stop us from coming together to shine a light on the worsening crisis in Gaza. Any attempt to silence us is an unjustifiable abuse of political power,” she said.
The rally concluded with prayers from members of the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths, which were greeted with cheers by the large crowd in attendance.
The leader of the Jewish prayer, who asked to remain anonymous, called on the Jewish community to “wake up” and “stand with Palestinians against the violence”.
The Palestine Action Group, which organised the rally, have applied for a permit to stage a march in Sydney’s CBD on Saturday.
المواضيع: Australia