Qld: Thousands rally to oppose Israeli occupation
10 Jan 2009 4:49 PM
Eds: recasts lead
BRISBANE, Jan 10 AAP - More than 2,000 people marched through central Brisbane on Saturday in protest at Israel's incursion into Gaza.
At a rally in the city one of the organisers, who wished to be known only as Abdullah, said the large turnout showed the growing momentum of Australia's opposition movement to Israel's actions.
"This is very positive and a very encouraging turnout," he said.
He said the Israeli government's response to Hamas rockets was disproportionate.
"This is a civilian population of 1.5 million people, and 65 per cent are under the age of 13.
"This is the humanitarian catastrophe that Israel continues to violate."
Aboriginal elder Bob Anderson compared the Palestinians' plight to the dispossession of Australia's indigenous peoples.
Jewish peace activist Margot Salom said she was among a small band of Australian Jews who condemn Israel's suppression of the Palestinians.
"I personally believe that an illegally occupied people have the right to resist," Ms Salom said.
Labor backbencher and Member for Moreton Graham Perrett, reminded the crowd that Australian soldiers had shed blood in Gaza during World War I and were there again in World War II.
"Gaza has been turned into a place of madness," he said of the Israeli occupation.
"I've been horrified to read of the death toll since the fighting began, now 800-people-plus, and more than 3,000 people injured."
Mr Perrett backed the United Nations resolution calling for "an immediate, durable and fully-respected ceasefire," and the restoration of UN aid.
"I've been particularly horrified to see schools bombed and children suffering in this conflict," the former schoolteacher said.
The protesters then marched through central Brisbane, chanting and then stopping at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall where they held a minute's silence and released balloons in memory of the civilian casualties.
