Over 300,000 People In Australia Held A Massive Protest For Gaza, Taking Over The Sydney Harbour Bridge
Police estimate about 90,000 people took part in the demonstration, named "March for Humanity", while organizers say the turnout was likely more than 300,000.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Sydney, Australia, on Sunday, Aug. 3, in one of the biggest protests the city has ever seen, to call for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Police estimate about 90,000 people took part in the demonstration, named "March for Humanity", while organizers say the turnout was likely more than 300,000.
Despite heavy rain, protesters took over the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was last shut down in 2023, when some 50,000 people crossed over for World Pride.
Organizers Palestine Action Group had gone through extraordinary lengths to secure the permission for the protest to walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, submitting an application a week prior on Sunday, July 27.
However, police had rejected the application over safety concerns, saying there was not enough time to prepare a traffic management plan and that it could lead to a crowd crush.
The New South Wales (NSW) Premier, Chris Minn, also said that authorities could not allow Sydney to "descend into chaos" and wouldn't be able to support a protest of "this scale and nature" taking place on the bridge, according to the BBC.
Police then asked the NSW Supreme Court to prohibit the event, but the court ruled in favor of the organizers just 24 hours before the protest was due to go ahead.
In its ruling, the judge found that the disruption and inconvenience were not reason enough to stop the right to freedom of expression, noting that there was "significant support for the march."
Several major figures were spotted at the protest, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has kept a low profile after he was finally freed and returned to Australia in June 2024.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people turned out at another demonstration for Palestine in Melbourne, banging pots and pans to protest Israel's genocide and man-made starvation in Gaza.
Palestine Action Group organizer Joshua Lees said that the Sydney demonstration exceeded their expectations
"Minns said that today would be chaos," Lees said, according to local outlet ABC News. "Instead, we saw a beautiful, inspiring outpouring of humanity, of the best of people."
Kassy Cho
Cherry Mohamed
Kassy Cho
