Protesters scolded local MP and genocide apologist, Peter Khalil, at a Coburg rally for Palestine on September 7.
Rally co-chair Sophie MacGillivray from Merri-bek 4 Palestine quoted Khalil complaining about protesters “diminish[ing] democracy” because he chooses to barricade his office. What could be more important than protesting genocide, she asked.
“It is close to a year since Israel began it’s genocide against Palestine, yet there is still little to no action from the Albanese government,” rally co-chair Jacob Andrewartha told the crowd.
“The Albanese government claims that it supports peace in Palestine, but has refused to condemn Israel for it’s war crimes, ban weapon’s exports to Israel, or eject the Israel ambassador.”
Answering people who say that protesting makes no difference, Socialist Alliance Merri-bek Councillor Sue Bolton said that “if Australia carried out sanctions against Israel, and encouraged other countries to take out sanctions against Israel, Israel would be forced to stop their bombing”.
Speaking about the coming council elections, she pointed out that “the [Australian Labor Party] ALP has voted against all of the Palestine motions” and so, even though Labor has nominated a Muslim candidate in Fawkner, she suspects that he would vote along party lines, against Palestine, if he were elected.
She said “there is a pitched battle of words going on”, among Muslims in Fawkner, between those who want to vote for a Muslim because of their identity and those who want to vote for Bolton because of her pro-Palestine record.
The rally profiled pro-Palestine candidates in the coming local council elections, including Bolton, the Greens’ Darebin candidate Muhammad Helmy and Victorian Socialists’ Bullek-bek candidate, Louisa Bassini.
Helmy pointed out that Khalil’s profiling of his Egyptian heritage meant little since the vast majority of Egyptians, Helmy included, “stand with the right of Palestinians to resist and to get their freedom”.
Bassini highlighted trade unions and social movement activism as the means for ordinary people to defeat the rich and powerful who enable genocide.
One protester dressed as a clown to mock Khalil's appointment as Labor’s “special envoy for social cohesion”.
Nat Farrah also spoke at the rally highlighting the Disrupt Land Forces actions this week.
