A pro-Palestine convoy rally has descended on one of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs ahead of the march to Anthony Albanese‘s prime ministerial residence at Kirribilli House.
Organised by one of Victoria’s main Palestinian rally groups, Free Palestine Naarm, the protest began at the Mary Booth Lookout Reserve, a park in Kirribilli that overlooks the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, on Friday about 8.30am before protesters marched towards the Prime Minister’s official secondary home, Kirribilli House, in Sydney’s northern suburbs.
Organisers of the protest have demanded “accountability from the Australian government for its role in the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people”.
At Mary Booth Lookout Reserve, a small crowd wearing keffiyehs and the colours of the Palestinian flag began gathering, setting up marquees to prepare for the oncoming wet weather under police supervision.
Ahead of the rally, protest chair and Wollongong Friends of Palestine member Labibia Abdellatif noted that the protest is taking place in view of the “colonial landmark” of the Harbour Bridge.
While the demonstration started to bubble, onlookers remained quiet; a group of Kirribilli women quietly crossed through the protest, walking their dachshunds in the scenic park.
The protest coincides with the anniversary of the UN Resolution 181, which proposed separate Jewish and Arab states in 1947, leading the protesters in a chant of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
Speakers lamented, while standing in front of the Aboriginal, Palestinian and New Caledonian flags, that only “after 14 months of massacre” did the International Criminal Court issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yaov Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Mr Netenyahu has since announced he intends to appeal the arrest warrant.
At the protest, chants of “5, 6, 7, 8 Israel is a terrorist state” could be heard, resulting in one Kirribilli man picking up his pug and leaving the park.
Beginning their march to Mr Albanese’s residence calling Israel a “fascist state”, Kirribilli power walkers in active wear quickened their pace.
Past the harbourfront apartments of bewildered locals, the crowd of activists young and old chanted “there is only one solution: Intifada, revolution!”
A local resident yelled to the crowd “let the hostages go” as protesters shook their heads and continued to march.
Palestinian activist and organiser Nour Salmab, while standing in front of Kirribilli House, called for action despite the “p*ss-weak morality” of the government, arguing for sanctions and divestiture of Israel.
“We must sanction Israel now. We must boycott, we must divest, we must sanction,” she said. “BDS works, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
With this, Ms Salmab condemned the police for “smirking at a genocide”, the crowd erupting in shouts of “shame” against them.
More to come.
https://thewest.com.au/news/pro-palestine-protesters-march-to-prime-ministers-kirribilli-residence-c-16916481
