More than 150 activists and members of the Palestinian community gathered at Sydney’s First Fleet Park to protest against Israeli apartheid on Palestine Land day. The concrete aims of the rally extended beyond remembrance and solidarity. Protestors demanded that SBS ban Eurovision 2019 being filmed in Israel as an extension of the internationally renowned Boycott-Divestment-Sanction (BDS) campaign.
There were multiple speakers, including Senator Mehreen Faruqi, NUS Ethnocultural Officer Hersha Kadkol, and speakers from BDS Australia. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, which seemed well received by members of the public, there appeared to be kettling, racial profiling and physical assault on behalf of the police.
Student activist Paulie Bover commented, “Today marks one year since the Great March of Return protests started – peaceful weekly protests that seek to draw attention to the ever-degrading conditions in Gaza. Our protest was a response to the call for a global march of return – international solidarity is central to the movement to free Palestine.”
The police response to the march throughout Circular Quay was hostile. There was an instance of kettling when police formed a human wall around protestors 15 minutes into the march. Protestors were also allegedly repeatedly shoved by police without provocation.
Read the article by Himath Siriniwasa in Honi Soit.