As I make my way to Centenary Park, I could hear the crowd chanting, cheering and shouting. Loud over the voice of the speaker I could clearly hear the words, “Shame! Shame!” as I approach the crossings between Queens St and Boundary St. No doubt the crowd were reacting to the speaker. Though the voice of the speaker was muddled by the sounds of traffic, I am pretty sure of what had been said. Those who have attended similar rallies in the past could easily guess why the crowd reacted that way.

As I got to the park some twenty minutes after the scheduled start time of 3:30PM, I could see the crowd was focusing their attention to the speaker standing on a small foot-high perhaps 1ft x 2ft rostrum towards the left of Thomas Joseph Byrness statue – or in the south direction since the statue faces west for those not familiar with the park. Quite a decent size crowd though not as large as one of the previous ones. Perhaps a couple of hundred people – heard the organiser said some 500 people at the end of the march.

There were the usual marquees by the organisers and other supporting organisations. Plenty of crowds getting information and purchasing flags, buttons and other protest memorabilia. It was a motley crew of a crowd though largely young people between perhaps in their 20’s and 30’s and of various political persuasions. One thing for sure, they came to stand united against genocide.

By around 4, the organisers lead the crowd to march towards the bridge with quite heavy police presence to ensure safety and public order. A small group of counter protesters already gathered near the bridge. The organisers had forewarned the crowd not to engage with the counter protesters. As we walked pass them near the bridge, there were the usual jeers and shouting between the two groups. The police had set up a barrier and were standing guard to keep the two groups apart. Thanks the police, the marching crowd was able to pass by without any incident.

The crowd spent around 30 minutes on the bridge, waving the flags to motorists passing by and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Some were seen dancing to the beat of the drums as they chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ and ‘from the sea to the river, Palestine will be free.’ I noticed the young and the elderly; mums with their daughters, men and women representing folks from all walks of life and of various political and social ideologies including those on wheelchairs and mobility scooters marching together under one unified cause. Despite the rain, they seem to be enjoying themselves. Unlike in Sydney, the organisers couldn’t get Brisbane Council approval to shut the bridge down for the march. So the best they could do is to walk along the footpath and make their presence known to motorists. Several cars showed their support by honking and revving as they pass by protesters who welcome their support by waving flags and chanting even louder.

By 4:40 we were back at Centenary Park where the march ended after short concluding remarks by the organisers. The rain got heavier but I think everyone walked away with a sense of satisfaction.