Amid chants of “free, free Palestine”, hundreds of Victoria school students have walked out of classrooms to call for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and for Australia to stop military aid to Israel.
Students gathered at the steps of Flinders Street station in the Melbourne CBD on Thursday afternoon, rallying for Palestine. The crowd spilled out on to the road, bringing traffic to a standstill at the busy Flinders and Swanston Street intersection.
They then marched along Swanston Street and into Melbourne Central, where they staged a sit-in.
Year 11 student Audra, a co-organiser of the rally, told the crowd to continue standing with Palestine and “defy our principals and politicians who tell us we don’t know what we’re talking about”.
“I walked out of school today with all of you to take a stand on the right side of history,” Audra said.
Students unveiled a giant watermelon flag, in the colours of the Palestinian flag. A watermelon is a symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance.
Mother of two Michelle Coleman, attended the rally with her two daughters, Eva, 11 and Dane, 9, who were students at Caulfield primary school.
Eva said she “wanted to help everyone in Gaza and Palestine”.
Coleman, a child of a Palestinian refugee, said she wanted her children to be proud of their heritage.
“I want them to understand their identity and understand its OK to fight for human rights of all people,” she said
“It’s incredible to see so many students and young people who are aware and connected. It’s such a peaceful environment.”
Norah, a year 9 student from Pascoe Vale Girls College, said she wanted to “stand for what’s right”.
Ivy Bertram, a 16-year-old student and a co-organiser of the School Strike for Palestine, said students were conscious of the Israel-Hamas conflict
“I hope the message is sent to parliament to say we want a complete ceasefire and a free Palestine. We want justice for Palestine,” she said.
Bertram said attending the protest was “so much more important than half a day of school”.
“Doing this, you learn about the world and you learn about life,” she said.
Some students were draped in the Palestinian flag, while other held signs which read “Stop Israel’s genocide now” and “Free Palestine”.
Victoria police estimate a total crowd of 500 people at the rally.
Pro-Palestine school strikes are planned for Friday in Sydney, Wollongong and Byron Bay.
The organisation of such rallies in Australian cities, inspired by mass school strikes in the US and the UK, has attracted backlash.
Members of Victoria’s Jewish community penned an open letter to the premier, Jacinta Allan, and the education minister, Ben Carroll, urging them to take a tougher stance against the Melbourne strike and warned they could heighten division and increase fear among Jewish students.
Allan previously said she expected students to stay in school, while her federal counterpart, Jason Clare, said pupils should be in the classroom during school hours
Meanwhile, the electoral office of the federal NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, was the target of graffiti that read “dial down the apartheid Bill”.
Shorten last week urged protesters to “dial down the degree of aggro” after activists dumped fake bloody corpses outside the electorate offices of federal Labor MPs.
Last Friday, students across the country walked out of classrooms to demand stronger action on climate change.
– With AAP
