Week 20 of the ‘Free Palestine’ rallies in Sydney, Gadigal Land.
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Free Palestine Rally - Week 20
No Pinkwashing Genocide QTOPIA Protest
Yesterday, a small but passionate group turned up to Taylor Square in Darlinghurst, on Gadigal Land, to protest at the opening of QTOPIA, a LGBTQIA+ museum based at the former police station where participants of the original 1978 ‘Mardi Gras’ protest were arrested and bashed by police.
The museum is partially funded by the Murdochs, who the protesters at yesterday’s event say have demonised the LGBTQIA+ community for decades through their media empire. Also present at the launch of Qtopia was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Chris Minns, ABC Chair Ita Buttrose, and Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch. Speakers at the rally, including original ‘78-ers, accused these dignitaries of ‘pinkwashing’ over LGBTQIA+ issues, and of supporting the war in Gaza. Some speakers claimed they were banned from attending the launch because of their support for Palestine.
The protest was kept well away from Qtopia by a large police and security presence, despite an offical Form 1 approval to hold the protest outside the museum.
After speeches, protesters moved from Taylor Square to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Holocaust memorial at Green Park on Darlinghurst Road.
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Property Is Theft
Locks containing keys to Air BnB apartments in Potts Point, during a time of soaring rents and homelessness.
Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.
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Palestine Sit-In at the Offices of PM Albanese
Protestors have been battling rain and heat for the last week during what is a round-the-clock vigil and sit-in outside the electoral offices of Prime Minister Albanese in Marrickville, Gadigal Land.
Protestors are demanding that Australia cease any support of Israel in its war on Palestine, reinstate UNRWA funding and does more to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The sit-in has been a weekly protest for the last 16 weeks, becoming an indefinite 24-7 affair a week ago. On Sunday, the picket marked 4 months of protest with a live stream and a special song to highlight the impending Israeli ground assault on the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza.
Organisers of the sit-in are vowing to stay until the war ends.
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Mardi Gras Street Rally
On Sunday, around 200 people gathered at Pride Square in Newtown, Sydney, Gadigal Land to rally for LGBTQIA+ rights and to mark the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which was a political protest held in 1978. Speakers at the rally called for the passing of ‘Self-ID’ legislation in NSW, which would allow for trans and gender diverse people to self-nominate their legal gender. Solidarity with Palestine was also expressed by those present, as the war on Gaza continues.
Amongst a strong police presence, the rally then marched down King Street, through Newtown, to Hollis Park.
The protest was organised by Pride in Protest and the USYD Queer Action Collective.
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Free Palestine Rally - Week 19
Photographs from yesterday’s 19th consecutive weekly ‘Free Palestine’ rally in Sydney, Gadigal land.
It came as Israel’s imminent ground assault on the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza is condemned by world leaders, who are warning that such an attack would result in massive civilian deaths and casualties.
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Stepping Stones
Stepping Stones.
Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.
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Woman in Stilettos with Fruit Cup
Lunchtime at Martin Place, in Sydney’s financial district.
Shot on a Leica M6TTL with Kodak Tri-X black and white 35mm film.
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TJ Hickey Rally - 20 Years On
Photographs from yesterday’s rally, marking the 20th anniversary of T.J. Hickey’s death. Seventeen year-old TJ was killed in 2004 when he was impaled on a fence after coming off his bicycle during a police pursuit. The family insist there was a cover-up of the incident.
Wednesday’s rally began at Waterloo Green, the site of TJ’s death, before TJ’s mother, Gail led a march to The Block in Redfern. The family are still seeking justice, 20 years on.
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Free Palestine Rally - Week 18
Photographs from last Sunday’s Free Palestine Rally at Hyde Park in Sydney, Gadigal Land, the 18th consecutive week that such rallies have been held.
The protest came as Israel prepares for a ground assault on Rafah, where one million Palestinians have fled to, after intense Israel bombing of the north of Gaza. There are fears of a massive loss of life if the assault continues.
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Unfinished Business at the Embassy
Portraits at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, currently set up at Victoria Park in Glebe, Sydney, Gadigal country.
Members of the Embassy are campaigning to have the park renamed ‘Isabel Coe Memorial Park’, in memory of Wiradjuri Aboriginal rights activist, Aunty Isabel Coe, who set up the Embassy there in 2000, during the lead up to the Sydney Olympics, to draw international attention to the the plight of First Nations peoples across Australia.
These portraits are of Embassy members, Jessica Savage, Gwenda Stanley, and daughter of Isabel Coe, Nioka Coe.
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Lotus Flower
Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.
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Another Day in the Colony With Barbara McGrady
Gomeroi Murri Yinnar photographer, Barbara McGrady, at the front of her home in Glebe.
Shot on black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.
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Free Palestine Rally Week 17
Thousands of people again turned up last Sunday, for the 17th consecutive week, to protest against the war in Gaza. The rally was held at Hyde Park, Gadigal land, before moving through the city streets and back to Hyde Park.
Speakers included Assala Sayara, Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi, high school student Rita Ehmad and Jewish anti-Zionist activist, Yasmine Johnson.
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Health Workers Vigil For Palestine
Healthcare workers, midwives and nurses gathered at Manly Beach on Friday evening to hold a vigil for the victims of the continuing war on Gaza.
Despite being located by the sea, many Gazans are unable to surf or swim because access to the water is often restricted by Israeli controls and military action. Speakers at Friday’s vigil at Manly expressed hope that one day they may be able to organise support and training for Gazan life savers, once peace returns to the region.
Healthcare workers have been at the forefront of the casualties in Gaza, both as providers of care and victims of Israeli airstrikes and other military attacks on medical facilities across Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The attacks on Gazan medical services by Israeli forces made up part of South Africa’s recent case against Israel of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
Friday’s vigil was organised by Health Workers 4 Palestine NSW.
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Palestinian Protest Against ABC Bias
Yesterday afternoon, about 80 people gathered outside the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) headquarters in Ultimo, Sydney, Gadigal land, to protest against what they say is biased reporting on the ongoing war in Gaza.
Speakers cited the dismissal of journalist, Antoinette Latouf, who was sacked after posting to her private social media account about the war, as well as last November’s Q and A program, featuring Nasser Mashni, which the ABC cleared itself of bias after nearly 900 complaints, amongst other examples of prejudice within the ABC.
The protesters also decried the general media misreporting on the Palestinian demonstration outside the Sydney Opera House in October last year.
The rally was organised by students from Sydney University, the University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sydney.
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Invasion Day 2024
Tens of thousands of people rallied last Friday, the 26th of January, 2024, on Gadigal Land, Sydney, to commemorate Invasion Day, the 236th anniversary of the landing of the British ‘First Fleet’ at what is now known as Sydney Cove, marking the beginning of the colonisation of so-called Australia and the attempted genocide of the continent’s First Nations’ peoples.
The rally started at Belmore Park, where speeches were made, before marching down Broadway to Victoria Park to join the Yabun Festival, a celebration of survival of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.
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Going Global - Is There Justice or Just Us?
On Wednesday, a full house attended the Red Rattler in Marrickville, on Gadigal land, to hear a discussion on current events of colonialism and genocide across the global south and elsewhere.
Speakers included MC Lizzy Jarrett (Gumbaynggirr), Dr Lana Tatour (Palestine), Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts (Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul), Ahmed Alababla (Palestine), Michael Kolkossian (Armenia), Sim Khatshaza (South Africa), Dan Miller (speaking in support of West Papua), Antonella Maldonado Godoy (Mapuche), Paul Sanchez (Chile), and Renuga Inpakuma (Eelam Tamil).
A video statement from Paul Silva (Dunghutti) and a written statement from Naomi Benjamin (South Sudan) were also presented, in absentia.
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Haweyate - Open Mic For Palestine
Photographs of ‘The Young Will Never Forget’, an open mic night at Bankstown Arts Centre, in solidarity for Palestine, held on January the 14th, 2024.
Performers included MC, Assala Sayara, Ahmed Sari, Amina Dasouqi, Celine Shadid & Yasmeen Shadid, Christina Batshon, Danya Shadid, Elia Suleiman, Elina Sayarah & Aisha Sayara, Jada Kabbout, Lujane Elwan, Noura Hussain, Rawda Alshroof, Rita Emad, Sabilla Karnib, Zackaria Al-Haddeadeh, Zahra jaber and Zayd Abou-Zeid.
The event was organised by Haweyate and proceeds directed towards the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.
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Free Palestine Rally Week 14
For the 14th consecutive week, thousands turned up to Hyde Park, Sydney, Gadigal country, to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to all hostilities across the Palestinian Occupied Territories.
The rally came as the International Court of Justice heard South Africa’s case against Israel of genocide.
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