Nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies call for ceasefire, as families of hostages address Sydney’s Jewish community

Hundreds of Palestinian supporters gathered south of Brisbane and in Melbourne’s CBD in another week of protests ahead of similar events across Australia.

Chants of “free, free Palestine” and calls for a ceasefire in Gaza could be heard at the event at Logan Gardens.

Organisers from Justice for Palestine spoke at the rally, standing in front of a banner that read, “all I want for Christmas is a ceasefire”.

Children’s shoes were hung from a white Christmas tree and displayed on the ground, symbolising those who have died in the conflict.

One organiser, who did not want to be named, said she was praying the protests would give hope to their “brothers and sisters” in Gaza, and bring an end to suffering.

“This Christmas tree is full of children’s shoes, children who will never wear these shoes again,” she said.

“Christmas has been cancelled in Bethlehem. We should not be celebrating during genocide. We should not be celebrating when children are dead.”

Organisers focused their calls for action on Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is also the local member for Rankin.

After speeches, the protesters did a loop of a nearby bowls club where Mr Chalmers had planned to host a Christmas party, chanting “Jim Chalmers, you can’t hide”.

According to the organisers, the party had been cancelled due to the planned protest.

They called on Mr Chalmers — and the Albanese government — to actively support a ceasefire.

An original plan to march to Mr Chalmers’s nearby electorate office was changed, with attendees opting to drive there instead.

Melbourne urges more action from PM

The calls for an end to the Israel-Gaza conflict were also echoed by the thousands of people who gathered outside the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne.

It’s the eighth week in a row that protests have been held.

The crowd waved dozens of Palestinian flags as it chanted “ceasefire now”, and “in our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.”

Self-described militant unionist Christy Cain spoke to the crowd and urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “get off his knees”.

“This is not just a rally for Palestinian people, this is a rally around the world, to say we’ve had enough,” Ms Cain said.

“We need to see Palestine free.”

Symbolic watermelon material, often used as a stand-in for the Palestinian flag, was unveiled on Swanston Street.

The crowd then marched down Swanston Street towards Flinders Street station as a heavy police presence lined the street.

A smaller protest was held earlier Sunday morning at federal MP Peter Khalil’s office in Coburg, in Melbourne’s north.

In Canberra, about 400 people gathered at Garema Place.

Other protests are planned for Sydney and Adelaide.

‘Love doesn’t have geography’

Earlier this morning, families and friends of hostages addressed Sydney’s Jewish community at the North Shore Synagogue.

Hundreds of people gathered in the upper north shore suburb of Lindfield before midday for the event organised by the Israeli embassy in Canberra.

Five members of the delegation, who had arrived last week from Israel, shared stories about their loved ones.

Tali Kizhner spoke of her 22-year-old son Segev, who was killed by Hamas on October 7 after attending the Supernova music festival in Re’im.

“All this cruelty, all this pain, we need to recover from that. We can do this only together … like one big family,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter where we are on the globe because love doesn’t have any geography.”

One member of the group, 18-year-old Mika Shani returned to Israel early after her teenage brother, Amit, was released as part of a hostage deal with Hamas last week.

The Sydney leg of their visit follows an incident in Melbourne on Thursday, where they were confronted by about 20 protesters at a hotel in Docklands. 

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said they were not aware of the protest that was arranged by the self-described grassroots Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance.