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Tens of thousands protest in the rain for Palestine in Australia: Shame on Israel and the US

2025-08-03 15:35:12Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Tens of thousands protest in the rain for Palestine in Australia: Shame on
"March for Humanity!" Thousands of protesters in Sydney

A pro-Palestinian protest took place this Sunday on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after it was authorised by the High Court just the day before, in what organisers called a "historic" ruling.

The BBC writes that tens of thousands of people took part in the March for Humanity on Sunday, despite heavy rain, and many of them held banners with messages to politicians to stop the war.

Among the protesters was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, while other prominent participants included federal MP Ed Husic and former NSW Premier Bob Carr.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was last closed for a public rally in 2023, when around 50,000 people marched on the iconic route for LGBT+ rights.

“Shame, shame Israel, shame, shame USA,” the crowds chanted. “What do we want? An end to the war. When do we want it? Now!”

Many families, many with small children, came out to support the peaceful demonstration. Opposite them, stationed along the bridge, were police officers.

“I know it’s on the other side of the world, but it affects us here too,” says father Alec Beville, who compares the children in Gaza to his three-year-old son, Frankie. “We could do a lot more with aid.”

“Our government has not imposed any meaningful sanctions on Israel,” says Zara Williams, holding her baby Avery in a kangaroo. “We [Australia] cannot do nothing while an enforced famine is taking place for an entire population.”

Two hours after the march began, participants received a message from police that read: “In consultation with the organizers, the march must be stopped due to public safety and await further instructions.”

Everyone on the bridge was asked to stop walking north and return to the city in a “controlled manner.” Police have not yet given an exact estimate of the number of participants in the march.

The Sydney-based Palestinian activist group Palestine Action Group had filed a notice of the march last Sunday. Police had rejected the request on the grounds that there was not enough time to prepare a traffic management plan and had warned of the risk of crowd clashes and other safety concerns.

In a statement the following day, NSW Premier Chris Minns said they could not allow Sydney to "descend into chaos" and would not support a protest of "this scale and nature" on the bridge.

Police also made an application for a restraining order in the NSW Supreme Court over the event, which was refused just 24 hours before the protest was to take place.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Judge Belinda Rigg said that security concerns about the march were "well-founded," but march organizer Josh Lees of the Palestine Action Group had "convincingly" explained the reasons why he believed an urgent response to the humanitarian situation in Gaza was needed.

She said there was no evidence the injunction would improve public safety, and ordered the Sydney Harbour Bridge closed to vehicles.

Australia has been under increasing pressure to recognize Palestinian statehood, as France, Canada and the United Kingdom have notably indicated they will do so with conditions at the United Nations General Assembly in September.


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