More than 200 people joined a silent protest on July 25 to reflect on the number of children who have been killed in the genocide in Gaza.
In a break from the usual loud protests, Friends of Palestine WA asked people to walk silently, wearing black clothing or a black armband, and holding placards made up with the images of individual children killed by Israel.
A working bee at the Boorloo Activist Centre produced placards, including more than 150 children’s images, plus information about their deaths which were pasted on the back.
It was a deeply moving event. Perth Mosque Imam Sheikh Shakeeb, Mairead Heaney from Healthcare Workers for Palestine, poet Hannah Magar and Hiba Farra from Perth Mum’s for Palestine addressed the protest, with MC Janet Parker, from Jews for Palestine WA.
The sombre march began in Forrest Place and traversed a path through the CBD, with a drummer marking time with a steady boom.
The children’s images attracted quite a bit a deal of attention. One busker paused their playing out of respect, while another followed the march back to Forrest Place to play some music.
Many protesters were quite emotional by the time they had made their way back to Forrest Place, where the they heard the evocative poetry of Hannah Magar, who ended with the refrain: “Please stop killing our kids”.
People stayed around to look at and read each placard, and the teddy bears which organisers had placed, alongside children’s shoes, at the front of the stage.
In the midst of an unspeakable genocide of Palestinian men, women and children, to which we are witness, this event reminded us that there are many valid responses, including a sombre reflection on the inhumanity which our government wants us to be complacent about.
As Hiba Farra reminded us after reciting Michael Rosen’s poem, Don’t Mention the Children, we must never stop talking about the dead children of Palestine, Lebanon and Iran.
