Students have again heeded the call of their peers to skip school as they turned out to block streets in Australian cities in support of Palestine.
Hundreds of students showed up outside Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station on Thursday to demand Israel end the siege in Gaza, release all Palestinian political prisoners and end its occupation of Palestinian territory.
“Since we were here last, the truce has come to an end and the horrors have only gotten worse,” one speaker told the crowd.
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“We have to keep fighting until Palestine is free.”
More than 14,000 people in Gaza have died since Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7 after militants crossed the border into Israel, killed more than 1200 people and took more than 200 hostages.
The Australian government lists Hamas, which controls Gaza, as a terrorist organisation.
Rally organiser Gisele, 17, said they were protesting to give a voice to those who do not have one in Gaza.
“We are here defying not only our schools but our government that is complicit in this genocide,” she told the crowd.
“Education is not a privilege but a human right, a human right that was ripped from the children of Palestine.”
The students also called on the Australian government to cut all ties with Israel until the demands were met.
The crowd marched down Swanston St towards Melbourne Central shopping centre, blocking cars and trams as chants of “Free Palestine” and “Israel out of Palestine” rung out to the curiosity of city onlookers.
The students staged a sit-in at Melbourne Central shopping centre, where a large banner was unfurled calling for Israel to “End the Genocide”.
The students created more disruption as they marched back down Swanston St, turning onto Collins St and staging a protest outside Collins Pl where the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade offices are located.
“Albanese, blood on your hands,” echoed outside the offices.
The protest ended on the steps of Old Parliament House.
Similar rallies were held in Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong.
Two weeks ago, more than 1000 Victorian school students defied calls from politicians to stay in school, instead, they streamed into the city, blocking streets and staging a sit-in.
Organisers claimed it was the biggest student protest for Palestine in Australian history.
In a separate action on Thursday, a group of activists in kayaks in the Port of Melbourne blocked the path of a tugboat aiding multiple container ships carrying containers and operating on partner voyage with the Israeli company ZIM.
