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A makeshift sit-in outside PM Anthony Albanese’s electoral office in Marrickville, has become a 24/7 protest action.
A visit to the sit-in on 6th March, found participants sitting on chairs with leaflets in hand, surrounded by placards and banners demanding an end to Israel’s genocide and 17-year-long illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.
What started as a makeshift sit-in outside PM Albaneses’s electoral office in mid-February, has now morphed into a 24/7 protest with activists camping out overnight and then handing the space over to others the next day in order to keep the sit-in going.
According to Sarah Shaweesh, one of the organisers from Families for Palestine, people had been turning up every Thursday for the past four months and occupying the space. The group then decided to intensify their protest action by holding a 24/7 sit-in. This round-the-clock action is now into its fifth week.
The group has been seeking a meeting with PM Albanese in order to directly communicate their concerns over Israel’s war on Gaza and to urge the government to take stonger action to bring about a permanent ceasefire.
Sarah Shaweesh is reported as saying: “We have done everything that we could — we have sent emails, we did phone calls, we have sat outside weekly for four months and we haven’t seen attention from Anthony to our demands.”1
So far, there has been no response from Albanese’s office to the group’s inquiries nor any offer to meet with the group’s representatives.
Those participating in the sit-in today vowed to continue the 24/7 protest action, a remarkable example of community action dedicated to increasing pressure on the Albanese government to demand an end to Israel’s genocide and an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Top photo: SBS News – Families for Palestine participants at protest outside PM Albanese’s electoral office in Marrickville. Other photos by J. Atkins.
Notes
1. SBS News, ‘‘He was one of us’: Why this group stays overnight outside Anthony Albanese’s office’, Feb 19, 2024