Hundreds of thousands of Australians took to the streets over the weekend in support of Palestine, in what were some of the largest demonstrations in national history.
Organisers estimated 50,000 people gathered in Brisbane on Sunday, which is the city’s largest pro-Palestinian crowd in history.
Meanwhile the Pro-Palestine Action Group said more than 100,000 people attended the Melbourne rally.
In Sydney, thousands of people gathered to march from Hyde Park to Belmore Park, with organisers yet to release their estimates of crowd size.
About 2,000 Pro-Palestine protesters are said to have gathered in Canberra, and thousands marched through the streets of Hobart.
In Perth, tens of thousands flooded the city centre, with organisers estimating about 25,000 people specifically.
Outside Adelaide’s Parliament House, organisers estimate about 15,000 protesters attended.
Marchers were demanding sanctions and an end to Australia’s arms trade with Israel. These demands were 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.
The protests came as famine has been declared in Gaza Governorate – the area around Gaza City – and is projected to spread to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed the famine after people in Gaza have endured months of deliberate starvation imposed through the Israeli government’s blockade of lifesaving aid, which breaches international humanitarian law.
Advocates have also condemned the Israeli government’s attacks on journalists and media in Gaza, while international journalists continue to be locked out of the territory to report on the reality of Israel’s war.
Addressing the Sydney rally, journalist Antoinette Lattouf condemned Israel’s killing of journalists and said “journalism is not a crime”.
“One hundred and eighty-four Palestinian journalists and media workers slain since October 2023, compared to 18 in the entire Russia-Ukraine war.”
Sunday’s protests come just weeks after a crowd on 3 August in Sydney grabbed international attention, with 90,000 to 300,000 people marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge after a supreme court bid by the state’s police failed to block the protest.
“That bridge march has generated so much momentum around the country,” Palestine Action Group’s Sydney spokesman Josh Lees told The Guardian. “The dam has burst in terms of support for Palestine and opposition to this genocide.”