Pro-Palestinian March closes the bridge of the port in Sydney

A planned protest through the Sydney port bridge continued after being resolved by the Supreme Court just one day before, in what the organizers called a “historical” decision.

Thousands turned out to be the hike for humanity on Sunday, despite the torrential rain.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was spotted among protesters, such as other remarkable attendees, including Federal MP Ed Husik and former NSW Prime Minister Bob Carr.

The Sydney port bridge was last closed to a public assembly in 2023, when about 50,000 people passed over the emblematic lane of world pride.

Two hours after the hike, the attendees received a text from the NSW police, which reads: “After consultation with the organizers, the march should stop due to public safety and wait for additional instructions.”

They asked everyone on the bridge to stop walking north and turn back to the city in a “controlled” way.

Police have not yet provided an assessment of the numbers present on the hike.

Transport to NSW told motorists to avoid the city, warning of major delays and interruptions along the road and public transport of Sydney due to the protest.

Sydney -based activist organization Palestin Action Group submitted an intent of the hike through the Sydney port bridge last Sunday in response to what he calls the “cruelty” in Gaza.

Police have rejected the request on the grounds that there is not enough time to prepare a traffic management plan and warned of a potential crowd and other safety problems.

In the next day, NSW Prime Minister Chris Mins said he could not allow Sydney to “go down to chaos” and would not be able to support the protest of “this scale and nature” held on the bridge.

Police also filed a request to the NSW Supreme Court for a ban order, which was refused just 24 hours before the protest continued.

According to the Australian broadcasting corporation, justice Belinda Rig said the safety concerns about the hike were “well -founded”, but the March organizer Josh Lais of the action group “convincingly” explained the reasons why there was an emergency to respond to the Gaza Humanitarian situation.

She said there was no evidence that the ban order would raise public safety and order the Sydney port bridge to be closed to vehicles, in addition to the roads around the proposed route.

Authorization for the final hour means that the attendees will be protected under the General Crime Act, which means that they will not be charged with crimes related to a specific public assembly, such as traffic blocking.

The Jewish Council of NSW MPs said they were “disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision to resolve the protest on the Sydney port bridge, in a statement published on their Instagram.

Australia was under increasing pressure to recognize the Palestinian statehood after France, Canada and the United Kingdom, all separately stated that they would do so with the conditions of the forthcoming General Assembly of the United Nations in September.

Speaking under the ABC program 7.30, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he wanted to see the conditions that achieve lasting security for Israel before Australia is committed to recognizing a Palestinian state and that it will not be pressed in the decision of other nations.