- by Denis Doherty
- The Guardian
- Issue #2157
Looking up Margaret Street as crowds are packed in waiting to enter York Street so they can walk on the bridge.
Despite the combined opposition by the ALP governments federally and in NSW to act against Israel for its cruel, indecently violent actions against the people of Gaza, the people of Sydney responded magnificently, turning out in a huge crowd to march across the bridge – ‘The March for Humanity.’ The police have estimated that the crowd was 100,000, while others have claimed it was as high as 300,000. The only demonstration that has come close to this one was the one just prior to the Iraq war of 2003.
We approached the start point of the rally at Lang Park near Wynyard an hour prior to the start of the march. Already York St footpaths were full all the way back to Wynyard Park, eventually York St was closed to traffic, and immediately filled up with protesters.
We moved slowly down towards the start position of march, all the time we were drenched by frequent and heavy rainfall. By 1pm, the start time for the rally, we were near Lang Park, but the people kept coming. There were people with prams and multiple small children, more elderly people with some on walking frames, there was one on a special scooter for a person with one leg. We stood there in the rain and waited while the crush got increasingly intense.
After a while I decided to withdraw from the march as I was not sure that I could make the duration of the march without needing special assistance. I made my way slowly down to George St and hoped to enter the Wynyard rail station, but the station was full, and so I moved onto Martin Place. As I walked along George St towards Martin Place, people were moving in the other direction towards the bridge, and each side street leading to York St was packed.
The crowd was so big that it was difficult for organisations to stand out, but there was a good turn out by the political groups. The ALP turned up with some MPs defying the Premier to mark their support for Palestine. Some yelled at them, “about time!”
Amnesty International had a good turnout, as did a few other groups, the only union that I noticed was the NSW Teachers Federation. However, the great bulk of the protesters were apparently unaligned, with large contingents from both Arab and Anglo communities.
MESSAGES TO THE PM AND THE ALP
The ABC Insider program suggested that PM Albanese was having frequent conversations with the people to bring the community with him. The protest deflates this outrageous spin and states clearly; the great bulk of the people consider his approach to be insipid and subservient to the US and its commands.
The need to sanction Israel couldn’t be more obvious, and a giant banner saying just that, ‘SANCTION ISRAEL’, was held by the protesters as they marched across the bridge. Signs through the march of various quality, from amateur to professional, called on the government to recognise the cruelty of Israel.
Signs expressed anger and grief at the sight of people starving, dead infants, and the murders of essential workers such as journalists, doctors, and nurses. The overwhelming horror was captured on placards of all kinds. One of the organisers described it as “a beautiful, inspiring outpouring of humanity.
NSW GOVERNMENT OBSTRUCTION
The NSW Minns government has gone out of its way to show complete support for the Zionist cause since 7 October, 2023. Chris Minns, as soon as the Bridge protest was mentioned, immediately and angrily complained that it was intolerable and that traffic chaos would be caused. It was only at the last minute that the Supreme Court agreed for the march to go ahead, just 24 hours before the march.
The party has been campaigning for the Minns government to ban Israeli arms companies from attending the arms bazaar for maritime weapons, the ‘Indo Pacific Expo.’
The NSW government response is “International events such as this Expo serve to showcase NSW businesses on the global stage and position the state to realise the challenge of creating highly skilled local jobs.” We have responded to them; “we talk about human rights and international law, while you talk about commercial opportunities!”. This is a pathetic response from a government meant to represent NSW citizens.
The size and strength of this rally on 3 August 2025 should compel the ALP to end its insipid inaction and move to both sanction Israel and recognise Palestine as a state.
THE MARCH DID OVERWHELM
The march was attended in such big numbers that the transport system was overwhelmed, and the police had to turn the protesters around and make them walk back the way they came. There were dangers of crush, and the police are blaming the protesters, while covering up their lack of organisation due to an unexpectedly large attendance.
Mainstream media is playing down this effort concentrating on the problems caused by the large number of protesters, and not mentioning the need to sanction Israel. The media has played a video of a hostage who was released the same day, and they have given more attention to that one Israeli person starving than they are giving to the bold message the people of Sydney were sending – “Sanction Israel.”
The message to the Australian government is clear; do more to stop the horror being perpetrated by Israel. There is no ducking and weaving left, the Australian government must sanction Israel in the numerous forms available. The NSW government must stop being a mouthpiece for Zionist propaganda and impose sanctions on Israel and Israeli arms companies active in NSW. The time for the weaponisation of anti-Semitism to victimise University students must end.
There were large solidarity protests in Melbourne and Adelaide which were also attended in record numbers.
