On Saturday, hundreds of Australians protested against an Israeli cargo ship and blocked it from docking at Port Botany in Sydney. They said that international business was bringing weapons to Israel.
Since the Israel-Gaza conflict began on October 7, when a terrorist attack by Hamas murdered roughly 1,200 Israelis (a number that Israel’s foreign ministry has reduced to 1,400), Saturday’s march is the sixth to take place in the city.
According to Gaza health authorities, Israeli retaliation attacks have killed at least 11,078 Palestinians throughout this time, including 4,506 children. On Saturday night, a convoy consisting of perhaps twenty motorbike riders and a few cars flying Palestinian flags travelled from Sydney’s western suburb of Lidcombe to the eastern beachfront neighbourhood of Coogee.
There were many police officers present and individuals waving Australian and Israeli flags when the group arrived.
Before police arrived to reroute the procession and divide the two groups, several individuals went past the Israeli fans, brandishing Palestinian flags and shouting from their cars. Before 7 p.m., the police broke up the Israeli fan group.
The NSW Police announced on Friday that officers would be out in full force over the weekend, including those from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
The Israeli ship was allegedly compelled to reschedule its arrival by the protestors who assembled at the port.
From the shore, pro-Palestinian demonstrators waved Palestinian flags. They screamed while others yelled from jet skis on the water where the Israeli business ZIM’s ship, Contship Dax, was scheduled to arrive at lunchtime.
The first step of the campaign against the Israeli shipping line ZIM, according to protest organisers Palestine Justice Movement for Sydney and Trade Unionists for Palestine, was the nature of the demonstration.
Paddy Gibson, a union member, informed the assembled crowd that if they heard a ZIM ship was scheduled to arrive at the Port of Botany, they would immediately call for a protest.
Paddy Gibson of Trade Unionists for Palestine promised to damage Israel while addressing the demonstrators financially.
“They’re present in every port globally, which implies that we can confront them in every port globally and force them to submit,” the broadcaster cited Gibson as saying. “Initiate critical economic damage to them where it hurts.”
