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Footballers, politicians, human rights activists and more were among the estimated 90,000 people who united in Sydney on Sunday, making history in the pelting rain to protest the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.
The Harbour Bridge was closed for five hours as the crowd, led in part by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former Socceroo Craig Foster and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, marched from Lang Park to North Sydney, calling for sanctions against Israel and the free flow of aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza.
On Monday morning, retired Australian footballer and lifelong human rights activist Foster issued a celebratory message to those who marched on Sunday.
“I thank and congratulate all who yesterday showed the immense strength of the Australian conscience and urge everyone to join together as a powerful, collective force against all hatred, violence and racism, for equal rights for all, and for Australia as a consistent and powerful actor for a just and peaceful world,” Foster wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Foster, Assange and Moore were joined on the Harbour Bridge by six state Labor MPs – Julia Finn, Sarah Kaine, Stephen Lawrence, Anthony D’Adam, Cameron Murphy and Lynda Voltz – who defied Premier Chris Minns by attending, plus crossbenchers including Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. Other high-profilers in attendance included journalist Antoinette Lattouf, actor Meyne Wyatt, and model Luisa Dunn.
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Lattouf described her presence in the front row as a “heavy-hearted honour”, writing on X on Sunday evening alongside a photo of her section: “People power. I had the heavy hearted honour of helping lead the march – flanked by defenders of press freedom, Palestinian human rights leaders, unionists, academics, and politicians from across the spectrum defending Palestinian human rights and against genocide.”
Former Labor premier and ex-minister for foreign affairs Bob Carr was also in attendance, as was former Greens candidate for Grayndler Hannah Thomas, who is recovering from an injury inflicted by police during a protest in June. She wore an eye patch with the colours of the Palestinian flag.
“This astounding turnout in miserable conditions is a comprehensive victory for the movement for a Free Palestine in this country. And a humiliating defeat for Minns and his cop thugs,” Thomas wrote on Instagram alongside photos from the march.
“Congrats [Palestine Action Group]. Albanese, Minns and every other so-called leader in this country is on notice – the people overwhelmingly stand with Palestine. Sanction the genocidal Zionist entity now.”
Minns’ government is now trying to determine if the march across Sydney’s main landmark – which, despite police warnings of a crowd crush, passed without injuries or arrests – will set a precedent for future demonstrations.
“No one should assume it’s open season on the bridge,” Minns said. “We’re not going to have a situation where the anti-vaccine group has it one Saturday, and then the weekend after that, critical mass takes over and then the weekend after that we have an environmental cause, and then the weekend after that because of an industrial dispute.”
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi with former Greens candidate for Grayndler Hannah Thomas, who was injured by police in June at another protest, at the March for Humanity on Sunday.Credit: @hannah4grayndler
If a precedent was set, Minns said, the government would have to consider balancing the right for Sydneysiders to protest with the right for other Sydneysiders to access the city on weekends.
Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite confirmed on Monday a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being pursued by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with Albanese saying in a press conference he would continue to advocate for peace with Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, Alex Ryvchin, who is the chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the Palestine Action Group was extreme, as it had organised a protest immediately after October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered about 1200 Israelis and abducted another 250.
Speaking with Sky News on Monday, Ryvchin said: “The fact that these people have now held yesterday’s rally and brought maybe tens of thousands of unwitting people with them who think they’re there for a cause of peace when truly they’re not, they’re being manipulated ... that’s what’s disappointing.” Read more here.
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