The Palestinian community brought back the silent march concept this week. It didn't quite unfold like last time.
150 Palestine supporters held a second silent march across Victoria as it rallied for a forty-fourth weekend in a row, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, freedom for Palestine, and accountability for the perpetrators of war crimes against political prisoners in Israel.
The organisers introduced the concept last Saturday, and it proved so popular with the crowd that they repeated it today. Once more the procession forwent chanting in favour of a marche funèbre driven by drum rolls and punctuated by halts for speeches and media interview playbacks such as the testimony of Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina who briefly volunteered in Gaza.
While overall public reception remains very positive, this iteration elicited a lot of hostility as well, and not just the kind I would brush off as routine, but rather reminiscent of the climate that led to the far-right riots against refugee seekers in the UK.
The most notable incident occurred at the intersection of Douglas and Fort, right by the RBC branch, which I consider a common heckler stronghold. There a Palestinian lady gave a heartfelt address to the attendance and bystanders alike, imploring everyone to help her put an end to a genocide, horrific by any standard, which killed over seventy members of her extended family and destroyed her home along that of countless others.
Sadly, she had to yell in part to overcome the screaming from several hostiles across the road, including flag-waving Zionists waiting in ambush, making obscene gestures. The heckling, including mutual accusations of crass racism, grew so acute that without the intervention of the police the situation would most likely have degenerated into a brawl. In spite of the escalation, no arrests were made and the march was allowed to continue.
I would like to remark that the hostility today reflected the cognitive dissonance observed on social media throughout the week, widely attributed to agitators like Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson. In the above incident for example, a counterdemonstrator accused the entire crowd of having come to kill him, which is completely absurd. In another incident on Douglas Street, a hostile man attempted to pick up a fight with a police officer standing between him and the marchers, of course accusing everyone else of being racist. And near the Legislature on Government Street a bystander repeatedly shouted “Go back to Palestine!” which is more openly xenophobic than usual.
Next weekend’s rally shall exceptionally be on Sunday due to a conflicting event taking place at the Legislature on Saturday. By the way, there will also be a fundraising dinner for the remaining family of the Palestinian woman who spoke at the intersection, following the rally at 5PM, at an undisclosed location (don’t ask me, I don’t know and I don’t want to know); regulars are invited to reach out to organisers for details.
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