Melbourne has been disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters, with 14 people arrested in separate actions at the docks, Hoddle Street and in the CBD on Monday.
Up to 50 protesters are now outside BP’s Melbourne office in Bourke Street, chanting “free, free Palestine” and unfurling a “BP fuels genocide” banner. Police are forming a line in front of the door to prevent protesters getting too close.
Activists block the intersection of Lorimer and Salmon streets in Port Melbourne.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Organisers said at 11am that protests were continuing at Dandenong manufacturer AW Bell and defence business Thales in Bendigo, while blockades had also been held at the busy Hoddle Street exit on the Eastern Freeway and at the corner of Bell Street and Sydney Road in Coburg.
The protests, which have also been held on Monday in Brisbane, Tasmania, Wollongong and Canberra, are designed to “disrupt the economy to disrupt the war machine”.
“We will continue to mobilise to make it economically unviable for Australia to continue to support Israel in committing genocide in Palestine. There will be no business as usual until Palestine is free,” protesters @disruptwars said on Instagram.
Earlier on Monday morning in Port Melbourne, near Boeing’s Melbourne office, 12 protesters were arrested after blocking a major city truck route. Some of the protesters had chained themselves on the road, which has now reopened.
About a dozen mounted police plus numerous parked trucks from the public order response unit were at the scene at the corner of Salmon and Lorimer streets in Port Melbourne.
Protesters, some wearing black masks, beanies and goggles, chanted: “Free, free Palestine”, “Israel out of Palestine”, and “How many kids have they killed today?”
Meanwhile, two people who were allegedly tampering with traffic lights at the intersection of Victoria and Nicholson streets in Carlton just before 8am were arrested for criminal damage.
Around 200 protesters gathered on the steps of Parliament House from 8am and marched through the city to protest against the government’s partnership with Israel-based military technology company and defence contractor Elbit Systems.
A woman is arrested in Fishermans Bend after being disconnected from a fellow protester by police.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and many wore keffiyehs as a symbol of solidarity with Palestine. They carried signs saying “Elbit’s business: Blood”, “Stop arming Israel”, “Jam the war machine” and “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea”.
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam spoke at the rally and said the Labor government should stop doing deals with weapons manufacturers.
“This will be one of the most defining moments, all of our lifetimes, potentially generations to come,” she said.
“Like the protests against the Vietnam War, like the hundreds of thousands who marched through the streets in Australia and around the world against the Iraqi war and occupation. History will study how the world responds now.”
Protesters on the steps of Parliament House on Monday morning.Credit: Cara Waters
Ratnam asked protesters to sign a petition calling on the Allan government to end deals with weapons manufacturers. She said if the petition received over 2000 signatures a debate could be forced in parliament.
Protest organiser Nathalie Farah told the crowd at Parliament House that the aim of the protests was disruption.
“We need to target any corporation that manufactures weapons for, or does business with, the genocidal entity of Israel,” she said. “We’re taking an effective action to disrupt the war machine, and we will continue to do so until Australia cuts its ties with the genocidal entity of Israel and the US imperialist state.”
The rally ended with a sit-in blocking trams and traffic on Collins Street outside DFAT’s offices.
The protests prompted Victoria Police to redeploy officers from regional stations to quell potential chaos on Monday.
However, police conceded on Sunday afternoon that they still did not know the specific locations and nature of the planned blockades.
Creative Industries Minister Colin Brooks said on Monday that the government supported the right of people to protest peacefully but that did not extend to disrupting other people’s lives.
He said it was particularly important that emergency vehicles were not blocked.
Protesters outside Victoria’s Parliament House on Monday.Credit: Eddie Jim
“It’s really important that people have the right to protest peacefully. It’s also important that other Victorians aren’t inconvenienced, either,” Brooks said.
Some police stations were to be temporarily closed as the force relocated officers to central Melbourne. Several specialist teams were also deployed, including the mounted branch, public order response team, highway patrol and transit police.
Local protest group A15 Action had vowed to “identify and blockade major choke points” in the economy by “focusing on points of production and circulation” as part of a global protest over Israel’s continued military assaults in Gaza.
“The global economy is complicit in genocide,” a statement on the A15 Action website says. “Join participating cities in blocking the arteries of capitalism and jamming the wheels of production ... there is a need to shift from symbolic actions to those that cause pain to the economy.”
A Port of Melbourne spokeswoman said the port was beefing up its security. The Department of Transport and Planning and Metro Trains declined to comment.
The blockade plans in Melbourne were part of a global movement involving at least 30 international cities, where protesters vowed to shut down key transport hubs, ports and other business centres.
The aim was to support Palestinians in Gaza, now in the seventh month of a bloody conflict sparked by Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks in which 1200 people were killed. Israel’s response to the attacks has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
On Thursday, Israeli shipping line Zim docked one of its cargo ships, the Sparrow, at Melbourne’s Webb Dock, prompting warnings from port operators that it could be a target.
In January, protesters tried to hamper a Zim container ship unloading at the Port of Melbourne. Police used pepper spray to break up the blockade at Webb Dock, which is one of the potential sites for Monday’s action.
With Rachel Eddie
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihwFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3RyYWZmaWMtZGlzcnVwdGVkLWFzLXByby1wYWxlc3RpbmUtcHJvdGVzdC1kZXNjZW5kcy1vbi1tZWxib3VybmUtcy1jYmQtMjAyNDA0MTUtcDVmanNjLmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5
2024-04-14 23:13:45Z
CBMihwFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3RyYWZmaWMtZGlzcnVwdGVkLWFzLXByby1wYWxlc3RpbmUtcHJvdGVzdC1kZXNjZW5kcy1vbi1tZWxib3VybmUtcy1jYmQtMjAyNDA0MTUtcDVmanNjLmh0bWzSAQA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Pro-Palestine protesters disrupt traffic at the docks, Hoddle Street and CBD - The Age"
Post a Comment