Iran Press/ Asia: According to ABC News, the demonstrators gathered in front of the Sydney City Council, where the ruling Labor Party was holding a conference. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Albanese’s hands are stained with blood" and "Free Palestine" as the Prime Minister was expected to address the conference.
Waving Palestinian flags in solidarity with Gaza, the protesters highlighted the grave toll of the ongoing conflict. Over the past nine months, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, and approximately 90,000 have been injured due to relentless Israeli air and artillery strikes, as well as ground invasions.
Jana Fayaz, a member of the "Action for Palestine" group, expressed the protesters' frustrations: "Every action we have seen from the Albanese government in the past 9 months was one thing; that he was complicit in the killing and decided to marginalize the Palestinian community."
The protests have not been confined to the streets of Sydney. Some members of the Australian Labor Party have previously resigned in protest over the country’s policies toward Gaza. While Canberra has called for a ceasefire, it has yet to formally recognize the Palestinian state.
Australia has increasingly voiced criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. An Australian aid worker with the US-based charity World Central Kitchen was among those killed in Israeli attacks on an aid convoy in Gaza in April.
The pro-Palestinian protests, which began on April 18 at Columbia University in New York, have since spread to various campuses and cities worldwide, including in Australia, highlighting a growing global movement for Palestinian solidarity.
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