The chant “Arrest Herzog” was not merely words echoing through the streets. It was a political and moral declaration.
When the masses raised their voices demanding accountability, it was not an emotional outburst but a clear statement that no one stands above the law and that crimes, whoever commits them, must not enjoy political immunity.
As a Palestinian who knows the meaning of loss, siege, and blood, I say this without hesitation: Your refusal to remain silent matters.
Your presence in the streets ensured that this tragedy would not be reduced to another passing headline. You did not stand only for a people geographically distant from you. You stood for the very principle of justice. You stood for human dignity when it is trampled. You stood for the right of peoples to name crimes for what they are.
They tried to intimidate you. They deployed pepper spray. They restricted public space. Certain media outlets attempted to distort your image, portraying moral outrage as disorder and the demand for accountability as extremism.
But you stood firm. Every act of repression exposed the fear of those in power. Every attempt at distortion proved that the official narrative no longer convinces. Every step taken in the streets declared that truth is not managed from above but asserted from below.
When the masses chanted “Arrest Herzog,” they were not calling for vengeance but for accountability.
They were not demanding chaos but justice. They were not attacking a people but rejecting impunity.
That chant carried a deeper meaning. International law cannot be an instrument used only against the weak. The blood of civilians is not a diplomatic detail to be closed with official statements. Double standards will not pass without resistance.
What happened was not simply a protest. It was a living act of international solidarity, a moment in which the Palestinian cause met the conscience of a revolutionary street. It was a direct challenge to those in power.
Repression does not manufacture legitimacy. Silence does not erase truth.
This moment stands as a test of Australia’s commitment to human rights, both at home and abroad. To everyone who marched, who chanted, and who faced repression without retreating, your courage resonated far beyond those streets. It affirmed that solidarity is not a slogan but a principled stance sustained by conviction.
Authorities may delay accountability, but they cannot undo the awareness that has been awakened. They cannot return people to silence once they have spoken. And when the streets speak in the name of justice, the era of impunity begins to erode.
[Shamikh Badra is a Gadigal/Sydney resident, originally from Gaza in Palestine.]