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Hundreds of thousands of Australians are expected to march in a nationwide groundswell of support for the Palestinian cause, days after famine was declared in Gaza for the first time.
Organisers expect Sunday’s marches will be the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in Australia’s history, with every major Palestine organising group joining for a countrywide day of action in around 40 cities and towns.
Marchers, who will demand sanctions and an end to Australia’s arms trade with Israel, are backed by more than 250 community organisations and unions, including the Victorian Trades Hall Council, Unions NSW, Hunter Workers, Unions WA and South Coast Labour Council.
Palestine Action Group’s Sydney spokesman Josh Lees said the movement was the “biggest it’s ever been”.
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Organisers were anticipating up to half a million people to turn out, up from the estimated 90,000 to 300,000 that attended the Sydney Harbour Bridge march in early August, which they said was a reflection of the huge outpouring of support for Palestinians.
Protests will take place from 12pm in every capital city, as well as regional areas including Shepparton, Geraldton, Coffs Harbour, Katoomba and Pine Gap, some holding pro-Palestinian protests for the first time.
“That bridge march has generated so much momentum around the country,” Lees said. “The dam has burst in terms of support for Palestine and opposition to this genocide.”
The action comes days after the United Nations confirmed famine in parts of the Gaza Strip for the first time, as Israel prepares for a military takeover of the entire city.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials – mostly women, children and elderly people – since the war stated after 7 October 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages at an Israeli music festival.
Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.
Speakers slated to address Sunday’s crowds in Hyde Park include author and survivor advocate Grace Tame, journalist Antoinette Lattouf and NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra.
In Melbourne, protesters will gather at the State Library of Victoria before marching to the state’s parliament via Flinders Street Station. Melbourne rally chair Omar Hassan said they would “not be silent while Australian-made weapons parts are assisting in the destruction of Gaza”.
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“What use is recognising a state while we facilitate its annihilation?” Hassan said.
Rally organisers in Brisbane have had to pivot after a magistrate on Thursday vetoed plans by organisers to march across Brisbane’s Story Bridge, which Queensland police acting assistant commissioner Rhys Wildman welcomed but said could have been resolved weeks ago.
Organiser Remah Naji said the rally would still proceed, starting at Queens Gardens in the city centre and follow an agreed alternative route on Victoria Bridge.
A spokesperson for Queensland police said it was confident they could facilitate the new proposed route safely and supported people’s right to protest “without posing risk to public safety or extensive disruption”.
Israel has rejected claims that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, an argument that has also been brought against it before the international court of justice, and the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the famine declaration an “outright lie”.
– Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
