Harbour Bridge protest sparks community anger

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns have weighed in after Sunday’s so-called “March for Humanity” shut down the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with concerns mounting over the cost to taxpayers and the offensive imagery and slogans displayed and shouted at the march.

Tens of thousands marched across the iconic landmark on Sunday to call for increased aid to Gaza and sanctions on Israel. Among them were Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and former NSW Premier Bob Carr.

Participants in the demonstration, organised by Palestine Action Group (PAG) Sydney, waved Palestinian flags and chanted “We are all Palestinians.” Members of the crowd also chanted “long live the intifada”, “from the river to the sea” and “death, death to the IDF”.

Alongside Palestinian flags and anti-Israel placards – including Israeli flags superimposed with swastikas and images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a Hitler moustache – an Al Qaeda flag was also spotted, as was a portrait of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Sky News revealed on Tuesday night that police are investigating some of the symbols.

NSW police said up to 90,000 people attended. Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said more than a thousand police were deployed and the size of the crowd had led to fears of a crush.

“I wouldn’t like to try and do this every Sunday at that short notice,” he told reporters.

NSW Premier Chris Minns, who opposed the protest from the outset, told journalists on Monday that it “cost taxpayers millions” in police resources.

“No one should assume it’s open season on the bridge,” he added, noting that police “still have to make a judgement about public safety and logistics”.

In press conference on Monday, Albanese dodged a question about whether he personally supported the protest but said, “Yesterday’s march was peaceful and was an opportunity for people to express their concern about what is happening in Gaza.

“And the images that we’ve seen, it’s not surprising that so many Australians have been affected in order to want to show their concern at people being deprived of food and water and essential services.”

On Monday, the federal government announced a further $20 million in aid to Gaza.

Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser condemned the decision to allow a “divisive protest” to proceed. “The Harbour Bridge is more than just a road. It’s a symbol of unity for our city and our nation and should not be turned into a stage for protests that seek to divide us,” he said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin noted that “while the majority of those who marched were no doubt there in solidarity with Gazan civilians and do not harbour pro-Hamas views, the organisers are the same group that held a pro-Palestinian rally as the October 7 massacre was still unfolding”.

“Any genuine concern for humanity would have also included the forgotten people held against their will in Gaza, the tortured and broken innocents held underground for nearly two years,” he added.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said, “This wasn’t a march for justice. It was a mask drop.”

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said, “At a time of already-strained social cohesion, an iconic Australian symbol and key arterial road should not be used to bring a divisive foreign conflict onto our streets.”

The NSW Supreme Court green-lit the march on Saturday after organisers challenged a NSW Police ruling that it could not proceed. Justice Belinda Rigg ruled that the evidence from PAG organiser Josh Lees “indicates that the timing and the lodging of this proposed march and its location is directly responsive to the dramatic increase in the known suffering of Gazan citizens over the last weeks”.

In a letter on Monday to Justice Rigg, National Council of Jewish Women of Australia president Lynda Ben-Menashe said, “Maybe you didn’t anticipate the Hamas flags at the march, or the Taliban or Al Qaeda ones – all symbolising the polar opposite of human rights.

“I am sure you did not intend to enable more exclusion, social division, hate speech or incitement to violence when you overruled the government and police to enable this march, but sadly that is what you did.”