Tens of thousands protest to mark a year of genocide in Gaza

Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters rallied across the country last weekend to protest one year of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Forty thousand people marched in Sydney, 20,000 in Melbourne, and hundreds more in Wollongong, Canberra and Perth.

In Sydney and Melbourne, people have rallied every Sunday for the past 52 weeks. The streets routinely become a sea of red, white, black and green as thousands of people wave the Palestinian flag. The sound of solidarity echoes through the city with the chants: “In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinian” and “Free, free Palestine”.

Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees addressed the roaring Sydney crowd: “We are here in some of the biggest numbers we have seen this year. We are just getting started”.

Seeing the genocide play out in real time has compelled thousands of people to join the movement. Many who didn’t know much about Palestine prior to Israel’s invasion are today committed advocates for the cause. Others have been drawn into action by their outrage at the Australian government’s complicity in genocide, from parroting Israel’s lies about “self-defence” in justifying mass murder, to signing a $900 million contract with an Israeli weapons company.

At the Melbourne rally, Jewish Council of Australia organiser Ohad Kozminsky criticised the Israeli government for weaponizing Jewish identity to whitewash genocide. “We are united in our opposition to Israel’s continued policies aimed at the destruction of Palestinian life. We are opposed to the vile prioritisation of the lives and rights of Jewish people over the lives and rights of Palestinian and Lebanese people.”

Nasser Mashni, president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, fired back at politician’s criticisms about our decision to hold rallies on the anniversary. “Will anyone speak of the dead (Palestinian) children, dead women and dead men? It’s shameful that we’re being asked to be respectful when we’ve had 365 October 7’s in the past year.”

These rallies generate a sense of confidence and strength on our side. By collectively standing with thousands of people demanding an end to the slaughter, we push back against the feelings of hopelessness and apathy which can so easily take over.

This is even more important because every major institution is stacked against us—from the mainstream media to the universities, cops, courts and politicians.

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon has heightened the stakes. As Palestinian activist and Free Palestine Melbourne member Noura Mansour said in her speech at the Melbourne protest, “We now watch the Israeli violence spill over into the entire region as it targets our brothers and sisters and families in Lebanon”.

A year on from the invasion of Gaza and we’ve entered a new era of Israeli terror. That means we must continue to push our struggle forward.