Solidarity in Sydney and Melbourne
The haunting images of children kidnapped by Hamas gunmen have been placed in empty prams in Sydney’s CBD as communities across the nation remain divided over the conflict in the Middle East.
Solidarity in Sydney Photo: Jodi Benjamin
Thousands of people gathered in Martin Place on Sunday in a show of solidarity with Israel and to plead for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, which is listed as a banned terrorist organisation by the Australian government.
Hundreds of pairs of shoes and photographs were laid out to represent the 230 Israeli men, women and children kidnapped in raids by the militants on October 7.
During the vigil, people held posters saying “Bring them home now!”, alongside artworks depicting “the realness and the ugliness of the war”.
Several people called for the Jewish community not to fall silent and pleaded for authorities to do more to hasten the hostages’ release.
Avi Efrat told the rally: “Our main message today is bring back home all the 229 hostages.
Our call to action is to tell our politicians to push pressure
Solidarity on Melbourne Photo: Simon Glance
and release our hostages
The reason we are doing it in the city is to give back confidence to our Jewish community in Australia. Some members are scared to even go out as a Jew in Sydney
I have an answer to those people. Not under this generation and it will never happen again . This generation is smarter, wiser and we’re not going to be scared.”
The event ended with a moment of silence before the demonstrators filed down Pitt Street towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge to get a group photo, which they planned to send to friends and family in Israel.
Thousands from Melbourne’s Jewish community gathered this morning at Caulfield Park in a peaceful demonstration of solidarity with Israel.
Co-organised by Jewish organisations United with Israel Australia/NZ (working directly with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel to bring them home), Habayit and Zionism Victoria, the event included a moving personal account from a young woman whose parents were murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz, songs and poems of peace, a prayer for Israel by Rabbi Motti Liberow (Hamerkaz Shelanu Synagogue) and a ‘performance’ comprising volunteers wearing #bringthemhome t-shirts pushing empty strollers with images of kidnapped children.
The event was attended by Federal ALP MP for Macnamara Josh Burns and State Liberal MP for Caulfield David Southwick who helped facilitate the October 17th condolence motion passed by Victorian Parliament unequivocally condemning the attack and calling for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”. Southwick said “The Jewish community is heartbroken whilst at the same time dealing with unprovoked hateful attacks causing many to feel unsafe. We stand together with the hope that the hostages will be safely returned to their loved ones. The only way forward for peace for Palestinians and Israelis is for everyone to stand united against Hamas and see the end of their rule in Gaza.”
“There was a strong sentiment and feeling of community solidarity,” said Zionism Victoria president Yossi Goldfarb.
“We marked (the event with) song and speeches, calmly coming together to seek the return of the hostages and stand with Israel.”
We must never ever forget that this is a fight against Evil and Terrorism, not against nationalities…..
Shalom, Mariòn
Hi. Yesterday, Sunday at 12noon in Perth, we had a Bring them Home rally. It was well attended and peaceful, thankfully.
Have you had any reports on this?
The rally I attended in Brisbane emitted the same strong sense of quiet solidarity, grief and love.
If only pro-Palestinian supporters could do the same, we might get somewhere. Not with Hamas, but with people in the Diaspora, where hatred and divisiveness is a heady mix.