Pro-Palestine protesters march to Prime Minister’s Kirribilli residence, vow to return every two months

Pro-Palestine protesters have threatened to march on Anthony Albanese’s prime ministerial residence at Kirribilli House every two months after descending on one of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs. Organised by one of Victoria’s main Palestinian rally groups, Free Palestine Naarm, the protest began at the Mary Booth Lookout Reserve, a park in Kirribilli that overlooks the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, on Friday about 8.30am before protesters marched towards the Prime Minister’s official secondary home, Kirribilli House, in Sydney’s northern suburbs. Organisers of the protest have demanded “accountability from the Australian government for its role in the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people”. At Mary Booth Lookout Reserve, a small crowd wearing keffiyehs and the colours of the Palestinian flag began gathering, setting up marquees to prepare for the oncoming wet weather under police supervision. Ahead of the rally, protest chair and Wollongong Friends of Palestine member Labibia Abdellatif noted that the protest is taking place in view of the “colonial landmark” of the Harbour Bridge. While the demonstration started to bubble, onlookers remained quiet; a group of Kirribilli women quietly crossed through the protest, walking their dachshunds in the scenic park. The protest coincides with the anniversary of the UN Resolution 181, which proposed separate Jewish and Arab states in 1947, leading the protesters in a chant of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Speakers lamented, while standing in front of the Aboriginal, Palestinian and New Caledonian flags, that only “after 14 months of massacre” did the International Criminal Court issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yaov Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Mr Netenyahu has since announced he intends to appeal the arrest warrant. At the protest, chants of “5, 6, 7, 8 Israel is a terrorist state” could be heard, resulting in one Kirribilli man picking up his pug and leaving the park. Beginning their march to Mr Albanese’s residence calling Israel a “fascist state”, Kirribilli power walkers in active wear quickened their pace. Past the harbourfront apartments of bewildered locals, the crowd of activists young and old chanted “there is only one solution: Intifada, revolution!” A local resident yelled to the crowd “let the hostages go” as protesters shook their heads and continued to march. Palestinian activist and organiser Nour Salman, while standing in front of Kirribilli House, called for action despite the “p*ss-weak morality” of the government, arguing for sanctions and divestiture of Israel. “We must sanction Israel now. We must boycott, we must divest, we must sanction,” she said. “BDS works, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” With this, Ms Salman condemned the police for “smirking at a genocide”, the crowd erupting in shouts of “shame” against them. Ms Salman gave an impassioned plea that the Palestinian movement was based on love for its people, the land, the olive trees and the poppy flowers. “Israel destroyed the Anzac cemetery!” she shouted to the crowd. “We respect the Anzacs who served more than Israel does. “We are long past condemning, we are long past being sorry, and we don’t even get that from our government.” Support was also thrown towards senator Lidia Thorpe, who was suspended from the Senate after tearing up senator Pauline Hansen’s motion and tossing the paper towards her. “We stand by Lidia Thorpe always,” said Ms Salman. “White colonialists fear Indigenous women.” At the march, which was mostly peaceful, artist and NTEU unionist Markela Panegyres criticised Australian universities for their refusal to boycott Israeli universities that she says act as military bases. “My university, the University of Sydney, maintains close relationships in the form of exchange partnerships with the Hebrew University which actively trains IOF (Israel Occupying Force) soldiers,” she told the crowd. Ms Panegyres explained that in Israel, a range of academic disciplines “are used to support and facilitate the Zionist project,” including law, archaeology, Middle East studies and linguistics. The comments come after the University of Sydney senate backed the introduction of a “civility rule” that would restrict protests in buildings and “requires any speaker using University facilities to make the meaning of contested words and phrases clear to the audience”. Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Dunghutti activist Lizzy Jarrett’s speech in front of Kirribilli House was punctuated by radio calls being received by police nearby. “Turn down your radio,” one protester yelled. “You’re interrupting her speech.” In response, the officer in question said he needed to hear the calls, and was met with jeering from the crowd. Protesters yelled “quit your job” and “1312”, shorthand for ACAB, an acronym in opposition to police, before Ms Jarrett quieted the group and told them not to get distracted. Closing the rally, Ms Salman explained the importance of continuing to protest in solidarity with Palestine, confirming the protest group would carry on marching on Kirribilli every two months going forward. “It is our duty to come out week after week,” she said. “It is our duty to tell our government they do not represent the people when they stand with a genocidal state.”