Across the major cities of Australia, hundreds of people gathered this week for Nakba Day rallies around Australia, marking the anniversary of the mass displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The demonstrations, which spanned from Hobart to Perth, served as both a commemoration of historical loss and a protest against the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The term Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the events surrounding the 1948 war, which resulted in the displacement of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral homes. For the Palestinian-Australian community, the anniversary on May 15 is not merely a date of historical remembrance but a symbol of a continuing struggle for justice and the right of return.
In Melbourne, the largest of the gatherings saw approximately 500 people march from the State Library to Flinders Street Station. The atmosphere was one of solemnity mixed with political urgency, as speakers addressed the crowd from the steps of the library, linking the events of 1948 to the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.
Voices of Memory and Solidarity in Melbourne
Addressing the crowd in Melbourne, Palestinian-Australian surgeon Dr. Bushra Othman highlighted the enduring trauma of the displacement through the symbol of the house key, which many refugees carried with them in 1948. “Seventy-eight years ago, Palestinian people were driven from their homes carrying keys they believed they would soon use again,” Dr. Othman said. “Those keys became heirlooms, those homes became memories.”
The rally also drew significant political attention, with Senator Lydia Thorpe expressing solidarity between Aboriginal Australians and the Palestinian people. Thorpe emphasized that the events of the Nakba are not confined to the past. “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 used the platform to criticize the Australian government’s current diplomatic stance, accusing the administration of “silence and complicity” regarding the current Middle East conflict. Shoebridge argued that the catastrophe is an ongoing process rather than a single historical event, stating, “There was no one day when the Nakba started, there is no one day when the Nakba ended. It continues.”
While the rally remained peaceful, police maintained a presence to separate the pro-Palestinian marchers from a compact group of individuals holding Israeli flags across the road. Law enforcement reported that there were no issues during the event.
A National Wave of Commemoration
The sentiment in Melbourne was echoed in other state capitals, where community groups and activists organized similar events to ensure the significance of the day reached a broader Australian audience.
In Brisbane, roughly 350 protesters gathered in the central business district. The rally featured several Palestinian speakers who shared oral histories of Nakba survivors and recounted the experiences of subsequent generations. Among those in attendance was Nick Hanna, a lawyer currently representing Queenslanders facing hate speech charges related to banned phrases.
Further west in Perth, approximately 300 people joined a city march. Nick Everett, secretary of Friends of Palestine WA, described the event as part of a larger, sustained campaign for justice. “For Palestinians the term Nakba means catastrophe, and each year Palestinians protest the ongoing Israeli cleansing of their lands,” Everett said, urging the public to contact their political representatives.
In Adelaide, more than 200 people gathered outside Parliament House. Husam Elassaad, a member of the local Palestinian community, spoke to the crowd about the specific impact of dispossession on his own family and the broader South Australian community.
The commemorations extended to Hobart, where over 100 people marched before gathering on the lawns of Parliament House. The event included poetry readings and musical performances organized by the Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network (TPAN). TPAN member Zainab Fadhil described the significance of the day as “immense,” noting that the struggle has continued for generations regardless of race, religion, or gender.
The Historical Roots of the Catastrophe
The events commemorated during these rallies stem from the geopolitical shifts following World War II. In November 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to partition Palestine into two independent states—one Jewish and one Arab—with Jerusalem remaining under an international regime.
The Arab world rejected the partition plan, leading to a full-scale war in 1948 following the departure of British forces and the declaration of the State of Israel. This conflict resulted in the mass exodus of Palestinians, many of whom fled to neighboring countries or were expelled, eventually settling in refugee camps.
In the immediate aftermath, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 194 in December 1948, which stipulated that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so. This “right of return” remains a central demand for Palestinian advocacy groups and continues to be one of the most contentious points in diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Palestinian representatives.
| City | Estimated Attendance | Key Focus/Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | ~500 | Dr. Bushra Othman, Sen. Lydia Thorpe, Sen. David Shoebridge |
| Brisbane | ~350 | Oral histories of survivors, legal advocacy |
| Perth | ~300 | Solidarity and political lobbying |
| Adelaide | >200 | Family impact of dispossession |
| Hobart | >100 | Poetry, music, and cultural advocacy |
As the anniversary concludes, organizers of the Nakba Day rallies around Australia indicate that these events are part of a broader strategy to keep the issue of Palestinian displacement in the public eye. The community continues to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and a diplomatic resolution that addresses the historical grievances of the 1948 displacement.
The next phase of this advocacy is expected to focus on increased lobbying of the Australian federal government ahead of upcoming parliamentary sessions regarding Middle East policy.
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