Pro-Palestinian protesters climbed the roof of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday, TV footage and pictures on X showed.
The footage displayed four people dressed in dark clothes on the roof of the building handing up black banners, including one that read, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a common chant by Pro-Palestinian protesters.
The signs posted on the parliament also contained the words “war crimes,” written in big letters, along with “no peace on stolen land” and “genocide since 1788.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters have climbed onto the roof of Parliament, saying “Australia is a country founded on genocide” #auspol pic.twitter.com/EX85lqnQpj
— Finn McHugh (@FinnianMchugh) July 4, 2024
According to The Australian news outlet, the protest took place on the final sitting of the federal parliament before it went on leave for five weeks.
The protesters covered their faces and wore keffiyehs. They also accused both the Albanese government and indigenous Australians of being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians. According to The Australian, no arrests have been made yet.
One of the protesters gave a speech using a megaphone, accusing the Israeli government of war crimes.
“We will not forget, we will not forgive, and we will continue to resist,” the protester said.
A handful of police and security personnel advised people not to walk directly under the protest, which took place at the main entrance to the building, while more were seen on the roof attempting to remove the protesters, a Reuters witness said.
The demonstrators packed up their banners and were led away by waiting police at around 11:30 a.m. local time.Since October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza, many pro-Palestine protests have taken place in Australia, including on college campuses.
Pro-Palestinian incidents and protests in Australia
Last month, the US consulate in Sydney was defaced in what local media said appeared to be a pro-Palestine protest.
Following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, around 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters marched through a downtown area toward the city’s iconic Sydney Opera House, which the government had illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag.