On Friday, a rally hosted by the City of Sydney for Palestine, Extinction Rebellion, and other climate activists set up outside Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek’s office in Redfern to protest the environmentally and socially disastrous genocide of the Palestinian people. Each speaker condemned Israel’s humanitarian and environmental crimes, specifying the interconnected impact of climate change and the imperialist war machine. The event began with a team effort of laying down the massive Palestine flag along the road.
Co-chair Jana Fayyad from Palestine Action Group and Palestine Justice Movement opened the rally with chants of “Israel is a fascist state,” and expounded beyond the phrase “Palestine will be free” to say “Palestine will free us, and will free oppressed people all over the world.” Co-chair, Ash, also announced that while the police were there to ensure safety, but were like the “pro-genocide” politicians who need “reminding of what peace and non-violence really look like.”
Introducing the City of Sydney for Palestine group, Ash spoke to the successful passing of a motion in the local council for an immediate, permanent ceasefire. Notably, this came just a few days before Anthony Albanese’s “piss-weak”, “pathetic” and lacklustre call for a conditional ceasefire that Plibersek herself had signed onto.
Ethan Floyd, SRC First Nations’ Officer and Wiradjuri and Wailwan activist, invited us to say dyiramadilinya badhu gadigaldya ngurambang [I am proud to be on Gadigal land]. Exploring the key aims of the rally, he expressed that Country is essential for Indigenous peoples, with Country being land, water, sky, and an ancestral being.
Floyd shared stories of frontier and colonial violence passed down through their family, noting that these experiences of violence, apartheid and dispossession are shared by Palestinians. Committing to the fight for Indigenous people around the world, Floyd concluded that “this is what solidarity looks like – to know our feet are on Gadigal land, but that our hearts are in Palestine.”
Sarah Snaweesh, a key organiser from the Families for Palestine picket outside of Albanese’s office in Marrickville, spoke to the crowd. A symbol of Palestinian culture and pride, Snaweesh wore a Palestinian thobe of cream linen and colourful embroidery that is particular to Al-Khalil (now known as Hebron).
Articulating a communal frustration, Snaweesh shared her previous belief in the power of peaceful protest that had been shattered by weeks of unsuccessful sit-ins and attempts to speak to leaders about their support for Israel. She demanded that Plibersek “remember who she was when started her journey in politics” and her statement that “Israel is a rogue state which consistently ignores UN resolutions, whose ruler is a war criminal responsible for the massacre of civilians.”
Snaweesh listed off horrifying statistics of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ destruction to Palestinian lives and land; the damage of the first 60 days of the war on Gaza was equivalent to burning 150 tonnes of coal, rebuilding the 100,000 damaged buildings of Gaza would require 30 million metric tonnes of global warming gases (more than the annual emissions of 135 countries), and that a continuation of the Israeli offensive in Gaza is estimated to lead to another 80,000 Palestinian deaths from injuries and disease.
The hot weather turned to a gusty downpour, exemplifying the harsh, modified weather patterns brought on by climate change issues addressed in the speeches. The police retreated to their cars as rally attendees braved the rain with the help of trees, umbrellas held over microphones, and keffiyehs as head coverings. The Palestinian flag was quickly moved to safety as the rally carried on.
River Verwoord from Creatives4Palestine chilled us further with her eerie poem “Dear Tanya,” in which she launched into a damning question-time of Plibersek: “Is your conscience clear, Tanya? Should I speak to you on something we actually pay you for, something you claim to care about, Tanya? You’re the Environment and Water Minister. Let’s talk about that then, Tanya. The equivalent of two atomic bombs, Tanya. Two.”
Fahimah Badrulhisham from the Muslim Collective linked the aims of the rally to the hot and temperamental day, pointing out the unanswered calls of First Nations and young people all around the world amidst this climate emergency. She called out Israel’s exploration of gas off of the Mediterranean coast to unjustly enrich itself using stolen land, while Palestinians are restricted to waters only within 20 nautical miles of the coast.
Lilli Barton of Wage Peace commended the beautiful intersection of groups at the protest, and explained Wage Peace’s motto of “earth care, not warfare”. They delved into the corrupt cleanup industry which cleans up war-torn areas, like Afghanistan, under the guise of benevolence but with the primary motivation of profit and control.
Showing that the fight for the justice of oppressed people and for climate justice go hand-in-hand, Plibersek (or her office, at least) witnessed a harsh condemnation of her failures to represent her constituents, to fulfil her role as Minister for the Environment and Water, and to break away from the Labor party’s line of support for Israel.
