Rallies held across Australia to mark Nakba anniversary

Hundreds of people on Sunday marched across Australia to mark the Nakba, commemorating the mass displacement of Palestinians.

Rallies drew about 500 participants in Melbourne, 350 in Brisbane, 300 in Perth, 200 in Adelaide, and more than 100 in Hobart, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world mark the Nakba—Arabic for "catastrophe"—commemorating the mass expulsion and displacement that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.

Protesters chanted slogans, including “Free Palestine,” as they marched, carrying signs and Palestinian flags.

In Melbourne, Palestinian-Australian surgeon Dr. Bushra Othman addressed the crowd, saying: “Seventy-eight years ago, Palestinian people were driven from their homes carrying keys they believed they would soon use again. Those keys became heirlooms; those homes became memories.”

Senator Lydia Thorpe told the rally that Aboriginal Australians stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“I wish these anniversaries could be events of healing. But the Nakba is not over and continues to this very day,” she said.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge accused the Australian government of “silence and complicity” in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.