Thousands gathered at Hyde Park in solidarity with Palestine on December 30, marking the twelfth consecutive weekend protest hosted by the Palestine Action Group.
After opening the protest with a series of chants condemning the Israeli state, Palestinian activist and co-chair Jana Fayyad stated that “what we’ve witnessed over the last 87 days is nothing short of terrorism.”
Fayyad went on to highlight the differences in how Indigenous peoples and colonisers view and treat the natural landscape, drawing parallels between British colonisation in Australia and Israeli occupation in Palestine, “if you really cared so deeply about a land, would you decimate it to pieces?
“To Palestinians, our land is sacred. It is a part of our identity…our history…our roots. Much like the Indigenous peoples of this nation, we are the true protectors of the land.”
The connection between Indigenous struggles for justice in Palestine and Australia was a recurring point made throughout the rally.
Gunnai and Gunditjmara activist Meriki Onus noted that colonial land theft, empire expansion, and resource extraction in Australia was only possible through the genocide of First Nations peoples, emphasising that “Palestinian justice is First Nations justice” as “our liberation is bound with yours.”
Onus went on to criticise Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong, and the Labor government for their active role in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, and called on protestors to, “boycott, divest, sanction”, “hold local institutions to account for their silence and their complicity,” and build communities of solidarity.
Co-chair Dania Hawat spoke of the history of Lebanese solidarity with Palestine, and singled out the resistance against Israel and Zionism. Hawat also called for a moment of silence in remembrance of Australian Ibrahim Bazzi, his wife Shourouk, and brother Ali who were all killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon’s south.
Teacher and Palestinian activist Abeer Saleh highlighted the crucial role that teachers and parents play in educating children about Palestine. Saleh noted that children learn not only in schools, but through the conversations that occur around them, whether on the streets, on social media, or amongst their families. She followed this with calls for everyone to “educate our children about Palestine” as it “certainly isn’t in our school curriculum.”
Saleh additionally emphasised that Israel is not only “waging a war on a million children” in Gaza but also breaking “almost every single UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.”
Co-chair Josh Lees condemned the Biden administration’s military funding of Israel, as well as the Labor government’s inaction in denouncing and cutting ties with Israel, stating that “a vote in the UN is meaningless if that’s all it is.”
An 11-year-old Palestinian-Australian then spoke of her father’s experience growing up in the Jabalia refugee camp, and her maternal grandfather being forced to leave the town of Barbara he had grown up in. She said that “this is not supposed to be a sad story, but a story of hope and the resilience of the people of Gaza.”
Similarly, a 13-year-old Palestinian-Australian noted that “Israel has been committing a silent genocide, war crimes, and displacements of Palestinians since 1948” as she shared her grandfather’s experience of being exiled from Gaza during the 1948 Nakba.
The final speaker was Mostafa Al Zaqzouq, a Palestinian activist from Gaza. Calling for the liberation of Palestine, Al Zaqzouq asserted recognition of “the right of Palestinian refugees, myself included, to return back to the land of our ancestors, who passed on their keys to us.”
Al Zaqzouq shared messages from his family in Gaza to those in Australia including “that they are not just numbers… each one of them has lives, dreams, and hopes.
“They want us to remember that the people who were killed, were and still are, someone else’s whole entire world.”
Following the speeches, protestors marched through the Sydney CBD chanting for an end to occupation and genocide in Palestine, before reconvening in Belmore Park.
Palestine Action Group will host their 13th consecutive rally at Hyde Park at 1pm on Saturday, January 6.
