After days of back and forth between organisers, the police and politicians, the Palestine Action Group Sydney has announced it’s officially marching on the Sydney Harbour Bridge this Sunday at 1pm — after initially being banned by NSW Police and the NSW Premier, Chris Minns.
The group posted on their official Instagram: “Court has handed down our verdict: we are marching on the Harbour Bridge this Sunday 1pm!”
That confirmation came after NSW Police had sought a Supreme Court order to block the march, with Premier Minns publicly backing the move to ban the protest earlier in the week.
The Palestine Action Group initially called for a “March for Humanity” to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They argued that Sydney had seen the Bridge closed plenty of times before, for reasons ranging from marathons and film shoots to other rallies — even a picnic.
But this time, police said there wasn’t enough time to sort out the logistics, especially for crowds expected to be in the thousands, and brought the matter to court.
NSW Premier Chris Minns also claimed he “cannot allow Sydney to descend into chaos”, referencing the scale of the protest and the strain on police resources in recent years.
In court, NSW Police pushed for the protest to be ruled “unlawful and unauthorised”, saying they couldn’t make it safe in time for Sunday. Police raised worries about possible crowd crushes and public safety.
But the organisers fired back, saying they were committed to a peaceful event and had offered to work with police—even proposing to move the march to later in August if that made things easier.
The group’s spokesperson, Josh Lees, argued, “We [Palestine Action Group] want to work with them to facilitate a march over the bridge that is safe and peaceful.”
The group’s barrister, Felicity Graham, also told the court, “A prohibition order may well increase the number of people who attend the protest, and exacerbate the potential for unrest and violence,” per SBS.
Supporters of the march pointed out that the right to peaceful protest is protected by international law and that blocking the protest would have been a heavy hit to civil liberties. More than 150 community groups and several politicians, including some from the NSW Labor party, threw their support behind the right to march on the Bridge.
Greens MP Sue Higginson, celebrated the news by posting on Instagram, “WE WON!!! Labor Premier Chris Minns and the NSW Police will not silence us. We march for Gaza, for Humanity, and for Palestine across the Harbour Bridge this Sunday at 1pm!”
The march is set to call attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Now, with the court’s decision, the march is officially going ahead as planned.
Lead image: Palestine Action Group / Instagram
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