At first, NSW Labor Premier Chris Minns used “time tabling” as an excuse not to allow Palestine solidarity protesters to march over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Gadigal Country on August 3, but now he says he will not allow it at all.
Palestine Action Group Sydney (PAG), which has organised peaceful mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, almost weekly for nearly two years, wants to walk over the Harbour Bridge to let Palestinians, and the world, know that Sydney stands against genocide and starvation.
The “March for Humanity: Save Gaza” protest has 99 sign-on endorsements from organisations and prominent individuals, at the time of writing, and new supporters are signing on every minute.
PAG organiser Josh Lees said on July 28 that as the Harbour Bridge is Australia’s “most iconic symbol”, marching across it would “send a powerful message to the world, to Gaza and to Israel, that we are determined to stand up for humanity”.
City of Sydney mayor Clover Moore told the Guardian on July 29 “it would be an incredibly powerful symbol for our most iconic landmark to be the site of a demonstration against starvation in Gaza and in favour of lasting peace”.
She said if it’s a timetabling matter, “the Government should work to find a suitable alternate location for this week’s protests, and if the community sentiment is significant enough to warrant the use of the Bridge, the Government should work with organisers to plan for its use.
“The right to protest is paramount in a democracy, and the City has always stood with protesters using their voices to call for peace.”
The seven NSW Greens representatives have backed the march over the bridge, with MLC Sue Higginson saying on July 28 that they have written to the Minister for Police and the Police Commissioner “urging them to approve the form 1 lodged by the Palestine Action Group so the community can march”.
She called on Minns to “reverse course” and support the march. “Any other position will display a catastrophic lack of human compassion and understanding of the people’s need to take action and communicate their political expression.”
Anthony d’Adam, Labor MP and regular at the PAG protests, rejected Minns’ claim that the rally would “cause chaos”.
Peter Moss from Labor Friends of Palestine said his group supports it going ahead. “The level of community sentiment for Palestine is comparable to those issues that have seen the bridge closed for previous mass public events,” he told the Guardian.
Lees said PAG would adjust its schedule if the government and police committed to work together. However, he said, if they don’t, “then it unfortunately reveals that their professed concern for a lack of notice is not genuine, and we are prepared to defend our right to protest in court if necessary”.
Palestine protests have been massive in the Arab world and across European cities, including The Hague, Belgium, London and more.
Unions, including the Australia Services Union, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Federation and the Electrical Trades Union have signed on, as have Amnesty International, the Arab Council Australia, the Jewish Council of Australia and the Blak Caucus.
Amnesty International said on July 29 that two leading Israeli human rights organisations, B’Tselem, Israeli Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Amnesty International’s secretary general Agnès Callamard said the two publications are the first to “state it loud and clear, based on meticulous documentation and research”.
“This is another milestone in the human rights community’s efforts to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their crimes against Palestinians amid ongoing efforts by the Israeli government to crack down on the work of Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.”
Amnesty said their findings “must be heeded by the international community and translated into action to stop Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, end its unlawful occupation of Palestinian Territory and dismantle its system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights Israel controls”.
[Green Left has endorsed the March for Humanity. Sign on to support the March for Humanity: Save Gaza protest here.]