The banning of pro-Palestine speech in Queensland has resulted in the arrest of another seven activists at a “Six Words for a Free Palestine” rally on 14 June. They join around 30 people in Queensland now facing up to two years in prison for reciting or displaying “prohibited phrases”. Sam Woripa Watson, an Indigenous socialist and recent participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla, was the first arrested at the event after recalling his capture and torture by Israel:
“I was in the detention of the Israeli Occupation Forces for 80 hours, where I heard them laugh and chuckle and joke and jeer as they abused and raped and humiliated my comrades for daring to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians. My ribs were broken as I was escorted into Ashdod port and we were put into a stress position for four hours as Itamar Ben Gvir paraded around us and humiliated and kicked us. All that I could think was that this was nothing compared to the 10,000 Palestinians who are held hostage by Israel. They experience that every day. So when I say, ‘From the … to the ...’, I mean that I have seen firsthand what the occupation does.”
Anger swept the crowd as the riot squad made its way through the protest to arrest Watson. There was a notable increase in the extent of the violence used by the cops at the rally. Stephen Heydt, an anti-Zionist Jewish activist, was attended to by paramedics after being pushed to the ground and trampled by the police as they made their way to the platform to arrest another speaker.
It should be no surprise that the cops feel more confident to use violence against protestors. The treatment Watson and other Global Sumud Flotilla activists faced at the hands of Israel was barely acknowledged, let alone denounced, by the Australian government, despite the announcement of an official investigation. As Watson said later in his speech:
“Our government is responsible for the abuse that we endured; they enabled it and emboldened it and made it so that Israel operates with a level of impunity only achieved through years of not being held responsible for committing genocide against the Palestinians.”
To some, the police’s actions were a surprise. A week earlier, police had not arrested activists displaying the banned slogan at the “River to Sea” fun run. When questioned, police told organisers that because the event was not explicitly a protest, they did not make arrests. It appears they are targeting only people’s right to political expression, an argument that will surely strengthen the upcoming challenge to the laws in the High Court. But this campaign will also need to be won in the streets. More defiance will be essential to making these laws a dead letter and continuing the fight for a free Palestine.
