Australian demonstrations show solidarity with Palestinian people

The demonstration in central Melbourne was at least 6,000-strong, twice as large as an earlier demonstration held last week. In addition to large contingents of Palestinian and Middle Eastern people, a wide range of people of different backgrounds were at the protest, including workers, retirees, and students.

About 1,000 also attended a peace vigil on Saturday evening which had been called by several imams. The vigil was staged in the northern suburb of Broadmeadows, which is home to many Arab and Muslim Australians.

At the main protest yesterday, many people carried banners and placards they had made themselves, including, "Stop mass killing in Palestine now", "Palestine you are not forgotten", "Dispossession, bombings, a planned genocide?", "Gaza: the world's biggest concentration camp", "As world sleeps, Gaza bleeds", "Rudd and Gillard, nothing new, US lackeys through and through".

Many protestors expressed their anger towards the Labor government's support for Israel's offensive and the media for their biased coverage. But protest organisers from the Justice for Palestine group offered no viable political perspective. They told the rally that by writing letters to both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Murdoch press they could make their voices heard and force policy changes. One person, undoubtedly reflecting the mood of the protestors, responded by shouting at the platform: "They'd just shred the letters!"

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