First they came for Carols by Candlelight and I did not speak out..
Then they came for the Sydney Mardis Gras..
Police have charged eight pro-Palestinian protesters after they crashed the Mardi Gras parade route and let off flares just ahead of NSW Premier Chris Minns, in a security incident that soured an otherwise peaceful evening of simultaneous mourning and joy.
The group jumped fences to enter the parade holding a large banner that read “Queer Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance” and let off red and green flares. Some members of the group were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian headscarves.
The incident occurred in front of the Oxford Hotel, near Taylor Square, just ahead of Chris Minns – the first sitting premier to march in the event – and his party colleagues who were in the parade with the Rainbow Labor contingent.
Footage from the area shows police running to the protesters and removing some from the scene, but apparently missing others who ran further down the march. All were removed from the area, with very little disruption to the parade.
Police arrested nine people connected to the protest, and in the early hours of Sunday morning charged eight of them – a 25-year-old man from Concord and seven women aged between 29 and 42 – with violent disorder charges.
The man was also charged over his use of flares in a public place.
(“The man was also charged over his use of flares in a public place” – and here I was thinking you could wear anything there!)
Note the banner they were carrying: Queer Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance. They are literally supporting Hamas, and if that wasn’t already clear, it should be from the statement they subsequently released:
The group of protesters released a statement following the incident and claimed that police used “excessive force against activists”.
“As a queer person I feel that it’s our responsibility to express support and solidarity here at Mardi Gras with Palestinians resisting the settler-colonial zionist entity and its genocidal violence,” said an anonymous member of the group responsible for the protests, Queers in Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance.
While we are used to “Queers for Palestine” holding a banner with something like Ceasefire Now, this is even more egregious. One could argue that some haters might not understand that Ceasefire Now really means “Keep Hamas alive to live another day so they butcher innocent people.” But these queers are explicitly supporting Hamas, who they consider the “Palestinian resistance.”
It truly boggles the mind that these queers support the very same people who would be the first to murder them.
Meanwhile, I am surprised they did not boycott the Mardi Gras altogether, given who was headlining the event.
