On August 3, nearly 22 months after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, tens of thousands of Australians converged on Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge in what they called a “March for Humanity” in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Nearby, between the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge, Australian broadcaster and outspoken friend of Israel, Erin Molan, together with three friends, Talia Shine, Amber Rubenstein and Marnie Perlstein, held a silent counter-protest for the hostages in Gaza.
The four women stood, dressed in black, holding up images of emaciated hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, along with a sign that read, “The enemy of humanity is Hamas.”
Appalled at the lack of acknowledgement of the hostages who remain captive by Hamas, Molan told JNS, “There is no ‘March for Humanity’ that can take place anywhere in the world that does not include the hostages. Over 660 days in, these are people’s sons, brothers and fathers. These are human beings and I can’t even put into words the pain that they are feeling every day but their family. It is incomprehensible.”
She added, “I am all for doing everything in your power to fight for humanity and I do it every single day in my fight for humanity, including to free those kids in Gaza from their enemy, which is Hamas, not Israel. How dare anyone purport to care about humanity or try to tell Israel how to end the war without demanding that these poor hostages are released immediately? It is farcical, the entire thing.”
Despite objections from New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, Jewish organizations and others, the march, organized by the Palestine Action Group Sydney, was given the green light by a local judge, Justice Belinda Rigg. According to New South Wales police, up to 90,000 people attended,
Some carried signs accusing Israel of genocide and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a war criminal. Chants of “Globalize the intifada,” “Death to the IDF,” “Death to Netanyahu” and “The IDF are terrorists” could be heard.
An image of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was spotted, as was an inverted red triangle, which has become a Palestinian symbol targeting Israelis and Jews. Marchers waved Palestinian flags and flags of terror organizations, including Al-Qaeda and Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Islamic Liberation Party).
Some banged on pots and pans to protest the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. A parallel demonstration took place in Melbourne, where there were reports of some protesters burning Australian flags.
What motivated Erin Molan and her three friends to hold their small counter-protest, especially at great risk to their safety?
“It was just a thought I had on the Friday before the march was due to take place and I had images of the Opera House and the chanting that had occurred before an IDF boot had hit the ground in Gaza, where people from my country celebrated the Oct. 7 slaughter,” Molan told JNS. “Those images went around the world and the damage they did was irreparable. I just thought I couldn’t stand back and let the same people essentially do that to another Australian icon, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, without trying in some shape or form to shed some light on the plight of the hostages.”
Molan added, “We didn’t put it out to anyone else. We didn’t ask anyone to come. We understood the size we would be up against. We knew the numbers would be big, but we wanted to do something. We were advised against it by most people who knew. They were worried about our safety, but you know, this fight is bigger than anything else.”
The burning of Australian flags, the presence of terrorist flags and the verbal abuse of police officers at the protest horrified Molan.
“That is not my country,” she said. “That is not what we value. We value the lives of kids, absolutely but if you can’t identify who their enemy is and that is Hamas the actual terrorists, then you are only hurting them more with that display. To see the ISIS flag—I run out of words for this stuff. Maybe it made no difference at all, but we had to try.”
The “March for Humanity” was held after a series of Western countries, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada, announced their intentions to recognize a Palestinian state in the fall, without demands on Hamas to release the hostages and surrender.
The Labor-led government in Canberra has not yet recognized a Palestinian state, but internal pressure on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is intensifying.
In a joint declaration with several other countries issued at the end of July, Australia expressed its “willingness to positively consider recognizing a Palestinian state as a necessary step toward a two-state solution.”
