Largest Anti-war march in Australian History

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Tens of thousands of protesters in Sydney, Australia, called for peace and aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after the state's supreme court overruled a police ban citing the need for an urgent global response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Police estimated around 90,000 people attended the march, called by its organizers the "March for Humanity." Some of the marchers carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger faced by the Gaza population. Among the marchers was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

According to New South Wales police, the original route requested by the organizers of the protest could not be carried through, and police had to issue a text message ordering marchers to stop. "At points today, we were really concerned about a crowd crush," Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna said in a press conference.

Last week, New South Wales police and the state's premier tried to block the march from taking place on the bridge, which is a city landmark and transport thoroughfare, saying the route could cause safety hazards and transport disruption. However, the state's supreme court ruled on Saturday that the march could go ahead.

The Guardian reported Saturday that Justice Belinda Rigg, in her judgment, said "the march at this location is motivated by the belief that the horror and urgency of the situation in Gaza demands an urgent and extraordinary response from the people of the world.

According to The Guardian, she also said that the evidence presented to her before her ruling "indicates there is significant support for the march."

Rigg reportedly also said the police's reasoning that the demonstration would likely cause inconvenience to Sydney residents is not determinative.

"If matters such as this were to be determinative, no assembly involving inconvenience would be permitted," Justice Rigg was quoted as saying. "To deprive such groups of the opportunity to demonstrate in an authorized public assembly would inevitably lead to resentment and alienation."

Submissions from the spokesperson for Palestine Action Group, Josh Lees, who said that a demonstration on the bridge would send an "urgent and massive response" to the Gaza crisis, were also reportedly noted by the justice in her ruling. The judge cited public interest in freedom of expression as another incentive.

The Guardian reported that the court ruling allowed protesters immunity from being charged with offenses like "obstructing" traffic.

A demonstration to support one side of a conflict isn't anti-war i.e. if the war ended today, the aims of the Palestinian side would not be met because the State of Israel would still exist.

I had the same issue during the War in Vietnam because people would bring Viet Cong or North Vietnamese (i.e. the present-day flag of Vietnam) flags to "anti-war" demonstrations and/or chant "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh the NLF is going to win" which again wouldn't have happened had the war abruptly ended, because the same people would have then still controlled the southern part of the country.

Pro-Palestine protesters will march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge tomorrow after a court ruling, with warnings of traffic chaos. Organisers are expected > 50,000 protestors



Jewish counter-protestors are also expected in large numbers. It's highly unlikely local Sydney Police will be able to manage such large numbers.

Hamas should be called out as much as Israel for this on-going slaughter of Palestinian civilians.