More than 30,000 people joined Palm Sunday marches for peace on April 13.

The largest marches were the 15,000-strong protest in Sydney and a 10,000-strong protest in Melbourne. In Adelaide, 3000 marched, 1500 in Brisbane, 1000 in Perth, 500 in Canberra, 200 in Hobart and 150 in both Lismore and Nowra. Thirty people braved storms to meet in Launceston.

Participants at the marches came from a variety of backgrounds, with substantial church contingents at many. Some unions, including the Australian Education Union in Adelaide, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union in Melbourne, also organised contingents.

In Sydney, Iraqi Kurd Dr Rebwar Reben was loudly applauded when he called for independence for Kurdistan.

Although some rallies were quieter than previous anti-war protests, a mood of solidarity with the suffering Iraqi people permeated them. In Melbourne, the protest was loud and angry, with the militant mood just a little dampened by the torrential downpour that set in part-way through.

The student organisation Books Not Bombs had contingents at most of the protests, often one of the loudest and liveliest parts of the march.

Sydney rally co-chair Nick Everett, a member of the Walk Against the War Coalition, told Green Left Weekly that the organisers were pleased with numbers willing to protest, given the intensive corporate media campaign justifying the war and invasion that preceded them.

From Green Left Weekly, April 16, 2003.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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