On Friday 7 February, Palestine Action Group held an emergency rally at Town Hall after US President Donald Trump declared an intent for the US to “own” and “take over” Gaza during a meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. Trump further called for the displacement of 1.8 million Palestinians to neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan.
The rally was co-chaired by Josh Lees and Amal Naser. A considerable police presence was visible, with a truck and van parked outside Town Hall, as well as police on foot and horses.
Lees spoke to the impetus for today’s protest, labelling Trump’s open call for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip as “absolutely sickening,” adding that he was “sitting next to the man” responsible for the devastation of Gaza. He then said that Netanyahu should have been arrested the moment he set foot on US soil.
Lees also noted the media failure to frame Trump’s comments within the context of the ceasefire deal as being “worth nothing” and a willingness to recommence the slaughter and destruction of Gaza.
“All along we’ve been saying it’s genocide and ethnic cleansing…it’s what’s already been happening and now it is being said aloud,” Lees concluded.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi called Trump’s press conference an “utterly despicable move.” Faruqi said that Albanese was “timid as a mouse when it comes to calling out Israel’s war crimes” and that “if he can’t speak up now, he is never going to speak up.” She further noted how opposition leader Peter Dutton praises Trump, while asking voters to keep “far-right, white supremacist” and “Trumpian” politics out of the upcoming elections while holding Labor to account.
Amal Naser began her speech with the chant “Gaza is not for sale, Donald Trump belongs in jail,” before reiterating that one can no longer live in a world valuing “profit over life.”
“Trump stated ‘Why would anyone want to live in Gaza?… It is unlivable because of the bombs the US provided Israel,’” Naser continued.
She highlighted how the “same mastheads who manufactured consent for genocide and disciplined journalists for questioning breaches of international law,” are now openly using the words “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” to describe the assault on Gaza.
Naser argued that “Trump’s words are not out-of-pocket or outlandish but a consequence of genocide greenlit by governments.” She noted that “[it is] very possible Peter Dutton will be our next PM”, calling on Australia to immediately withdraw from AUKUS.
Palestinian activist and law student from Gaza, Raneem Emad, spoke to the collective feeling that Palestinian lives “don’t matter in the eyes of politicians,” pointing to Israeli politicians boasting that a ceasefire will not last.
Emad also referenced the current military campaign against the Jenin camp in the West Bank, saying “now that the sky has stopped falling on the people in Gaza we are told to be grateful, accept the bare minimum, and not to take up space.”
She told the crowd that “we are not surprised, we are enraged” because the US and Israel “want Palestine without the Palestinian,” noting a lack of understanding that “Palestine lives within its people until they are able to live in a free Palestine.”
To those complicit, she said, “You can continue to kill us… displace us… torture us in Israeli prisons but your plans for Gaza will fail.”
Emad then called Albanese a “spineless cowardly leader who won’t sanction Israel or condemn violent rhetoric,” and encouraged the crowd to “get up, get angry, [and] get involved.”
Peter Slezak, Anti-Zionist, Jewish activist and professor described Trump’s plan as an “insane delusional criminal fantasy,” that will provide access to Gaza’s territorial waters with natural gas reserves. Slezak explained that the idea of forcing Palestinians from their homes is hardly new, with Gaza housing Palestinian refugees from all over historic Palestine, and that by this logic “Palestinians should leave Gaza and return to their original homes across Palestine”.
He also denounced Albanese’s lack of comment, and choice to repeat Australia’s commitment to a “dead” two-state solution. In addition to a permanent ceasefire, Slezak called for the continued support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Australia.
Journalist and activist Wendy Bacon appealed to the “real sense of urgency today”, shouting out the ongoing support of the Teacher’s Federation and the Nurses and Midwives for Palestine. Bacon also criticised those who said they “can change the Labor Party from within”, suggesting they resign as they have “spectacularly failed” and “betrayed their own policies”.
The speakers all extended their support for Antoinette Lattouf in her ongoing court case against the ABC over her unfair dismissal, after she reshared a Human Rights Watch post on Israel using starvation as a weapon of war.
Bacon in particular, said that five days into the trial, “we have seen the insides of the ABC on display and what a grubby display it is”. She then called for ABC Managing Director, David Anderson to be stood down, arguing that he has betrayed the ABC and the journalists who work for it.
She referenced the increasing instances of public figures facing disciplinary action or orchestrated media campaigns against them after advocating for Palestine: cricket commentator Peter Lalor, Sarah Schwartz of the Jewish Council of Australia, writer-academic-lawyer Randa Abdel Fattah, and academics Nick Riemer and John Keane.
Bacon concluded by urging attendees to back the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) calling for an independent inquiry into the ABC.
Palestine Action Group’s next major protest will occur on March 2 from 1pm at Hyde Park, marking the end of phase one of the ceasefire deal and continue to demand for:
- Israel out of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria
- Aid and reconstruction of Gaza, and lifting UNRWA ban
- Permanent ceasefire
- Accountability for Israeli war crimes
- Stop arms to Israel and sanctions
