“No more arms trade with Israel,” Niko Leka told about 100 people at Civic Park in Newcastle, New South Wales, during the Global Day for Gaza. The peaceful protest put the Australian government’s relationship with Israel at the centre of demands over the war and restrictions on food and medical supplies in Gaza.
Leka, of Palestine Action Group Muloobinba, called the gathering “another intervention, a peaceful intervention.” He urged the government to follow international law, end arms trade and investment, and stop relationships with Israeli universities “until they start obeying international law.” The base report described no government response to those demands.
People name the cost
Hunter Valley woman Lynn Benn, from environmental group the Knitting Nannas, said people had come because they were angry about Gaza. “Food supplies are restricted, critical medical supplies are restricted, and there are thousands and thousands of children in there,” she said. “This has been going on for three years, which is horrendous. Standing back and letting this happen is appalling, and that's why we're here.”
Benn said she wanted “true peace” in Gaza and the West Bank. Her words set the daily stakes beside protesters’ demands: restricted supplies and children facing a crisis described by people at the rally. The demonstrations marked lives lost during three years of Israel's retaliatory campaign in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
The Gaza health ministry said more than 74,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza and more than 175,000 injured. The United Nations estimated that 1.9 million people had been displaced. Those figures show the human cost behind calls made in Australian streets and at the gates of a parliament.
From the waterfront to Parliament
In Hobart, hundreds marched along the waterfront, waving Palestinian flags, carrying placards and chanting “the West Bank will be free.” People began gathering at about 11am, then walked to the Tasmanian Parliament, taking their demands to a formal seat of government.
Speakers included Nala Mansell of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Feras Shaheen of the Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network. Shaheen urged people to step up their advocacy and said new measures were needed to end the war in Gaza. “What else can you do in your spaces... there is still a lot to do,” he said.
About 100 people attended the Newcastle event. Leka said he and other Novocastrians had protested the war for years, and described showing up as an intervention. The rallies offered visible, self-organized public pressure, while protesters kept their central demands aimed at the Australian government: end the arms trade and investment, and change institutional relationships.
Protesters gathered in Australian capital cities and regional locations. Across those rallies, they called for Australia to end its arms trade with Israel and for “true peace in Gaza” and the West Bank. Their appeals named the government as an actor with power to change policy; the report mentioned no election or legislative remedy. For people facing restricted supplies, mass injury and displacement, speakers said, standing back wasn't an acceptable answer.