Chanting “Break the Siege; Set them free,” 20 pro-Palestine activists braved the cold on July 30 to demonstrate outside the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Gadigal Country/Sydney.
They demanded an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the release of Australian citizens Robert Martin and Tan Safi. Martin and Safi were kidnapped on July 26, alongside 19 other activists, after attempting to deliver aid to Gaza aboard the Freedom Flotilla vessel Handala.
The Handala was intercepted about 57 nautical miles from Gaza by armed Israelis, according to the organisers Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The organisation said detainees were told to either accept “voluntary deportation” or remain detained and appear before a tribunal.
The Handala group included activists, lawyers, two members of European parliament and two journalists for the Qatar-based network Al Jazeera, which Israel has banned.
Protesters banged on pots and pans and held a large banner reading “Gaza is starving — Open the borders”. They marched through the CBD before stopping outside the Israeli-owned Zara store in Pitt Street Mall, where they called on people to boycott.
Just as the Israeli blockade on aid entering Gaza is illegal under international law, the Handala was intercepted in international waters, which is also illegal.
The two Australians, who had been undertaking a hunger strike, were released on July 30. Others, such as 70-year-old Norwegian woman Vigdis, are still detained, and lawyers said she is being held in a solitary confinement.