Brisbane has amassed the largest pro-Palestinian crowd in the city’s history, rally organisers say, as thousands march across Australia in a show of support for the Palestinian cause, days after famine was declared in Gaza for the first time.
In Brisbane, organisers’ initial estimate was that at least 25,000 are gathered for a rally they described as “historic”.
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin spokesperson Remah Naji told Brisbane’s crowd on Sunday afternoon that it was “the biggest pro-Palestine rally that this city has ever seen”.
Sunday’s marches were expected by organisers to be the largest pro-Palestine demonstrations in Australia’s history, with every major Palestine organising group joining for a countrywide day of action in around 40 cities and towns.
Marchers demanding sanctions and an end to Australia’s arms trade with Israel were backed by more than 250 community organisations and unions, including the Victorian Trades Hall Council, Unions NSW, Hunter Workers, Unions WA and South Coast Labour Council.
Naji said the high turnout in Brisbane could be attributed to authorities banning from marching across the historic Story Bridge. Organisers had to pivot after a magistrate on Thursday vetoed plans by organisers to march across the bridge on community safety grounds, which Queensland police acting assistant commissioner Rhys Wildman welcomed.
A spokesperson for Queensland police said it was confident they could facilitate the new proposed route safely and supported people’s right to protest “without posing risk to public safety or extensive disruption”.
On Sunday afternoon, ferries were at capacity and city streets in Brisbane were swelling as thousands of demonstrators gathered at Queens Garden in the city centre before following an agreed alternative route on Victoria Bridge.
Palestine Action Group’s Sydney spokesman Josh Lees said the movement was the “biggest it’s ever been”.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
Organisers were anticipating up to half a million people to turn out, up from the estimated 90,000 to 300,000 that attended the Sydney Harbour Bridge march in early August, which they said was a reflection of the huge outpouring of support for Palestinians.
Protests began taking place from 12pm in every capital city, as well as regional areas including Shepparton, Geraldton, Coffs Harbour, Katoomba and Pine Gap, some holding pro-Palestinian protests for the first time.
“That bridge march has generated so much momentum around the country,” Lees said. “The dam has burst in terms of support for Palestine and opposition to this genocide.”
The action comes days after the United Nations confirmed famine in parts of the Gaza Strip for the first time, as Israel prepares for a military takeover of the entire city.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials – mostly women, children and elderly people – since the war stated after 7 October 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages at an Israeli music festival.
Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.
after newsletter promotion
In Canberra, independent Senator for the ACT, David Pocock was among speakers who addressed a crowd of hundreds in Civic Square.
“As a middle power, we can and must be doing more,” he said. “This is something that I’ve heard from Canberrans on more than any other issue in the last three years.
“People care. People care deeply, and they want a government that’s actually going to listen and then act.”
In Sydney, author and survivor advocate Grace Tame, journalist Antoinette Lattouf and NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra were expected to address crowds before marching to Belmore Park, while in Hobart, lord mayor Anna Reynolds and independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie were among those leading the crowds.
In Melbourne, protesters were gathering at the State Library of Victoria before marching to the state’s parliament via Flinders Street Station, attracting a crowd so large participants reported struggling to access the phone network.
Greens deputy leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi was among those to address the crowd.
Israel has rejected claims that its actions in Gaza amount to genocide, an argument that has also been brought against it before the international court of justice, and the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the famine declaration an “outright lie”.
– Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
