Unsettling detail in Sydney Pro-Palestine protest photo
About 90,000 people, including famous faces, braved the rain and descended on the iconic landmark with placards and flags in hand to call for an end to the war in Gaza after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute application to block the protest on Saturday.
The rally, organised by the Palestine Action Group, was largely well-behaved despite police intervention over fears of a crowd crush.
But one protester has sparked outrage online after holding up a photo of Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the demonstration.
Pictures of the event show the large portrait of Khamenei with a rifle, held up behind WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, activist Craig Foster and former journalist Mary Kostakidis.
Shortly after the protest, Jeremy Leibler, the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia, took to social media on Sunday to call out the 'giant portrait of Ayatollah Khamenei – the dictator who jails women, executes gays, funds terror, and calls for Israel's destruction' on display behind the prominent figures.
'This wasn't a march for justice. It was a mask drop,' he wrote on X.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar further condemned the sight, accusing the 'radical Left and fundamentalist Islam' of 'dragging the West toward the sidelines of history'.
'Radical protesters at Sydney Harbour Bridge today holding an image of Iran's 'Supreme Leader' — the most dangerous leader of fundamentalist Islam, the world's largest exporter of terror and a mass executioner,' Sa'ar wrote on X.
Khamenei, the head of the Iranian regime and the religious leader of some 200 million Shia Muslims, has been in power for over three decades following the death of his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989.
In 2022, he condemned protests which made international headlines following the death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.
In July, US President Donald Trump called Khamenei an 'easy target' and warned the US would not kill him 'for now' amid Iran's 12-day war with Isreael.
90,000 march across iconic bridge
In Sydney, thousands of protesters started crossing the bridge about 2pm on Sunday, chanting 'free, free Palestine' and waving placards.
Some could also be heard chanting 'death, death to the IDF', a reference to the Israeli Defence Force.
The number of protesters far exceeded the 10,000 estimated to attend.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore lent her support to the protesters saying: 'Discomfort from traffic can't be compared to what's happening in Gaza'.
Jewish Council of Australia Executive Officer Sarah Schwartz backed the protest saying the marchers were 'crying out for moral leadership'.
'It is a time for all of us, including those in positions of power, to do everything they can to halt an active genocide and stand with the people of Gaza.'
'Almost catastrophic': Fears of crowd crush
At about 3pm, NSW Police issued an urgent request for protesters to stop marching on safety fears, citing a possible 'crush' at the northern end of the bridge.
'Participants have been asked to stop proceeding across the bridge to avoid a crowd crush at the northern end of the harbour bridge,' the police said in what they called a 'protest safety intervention'.
'Once the procession has come to a halt, protesters will be asked to turn around and walk back toward Wynyard to avoid a risk of injury due to the huge number of people taking part.
'Police believe the safest route back is to walk back across the bridge given the huge numbers to avoid overwhelming the public transport system and a potential crowd crush scenario.'
The crowd started dispersing from the bridge about 3.30pm and traffic started crossing the bridge about 4.30pm.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Adam Johnson said police narrowly avoided a 'catastrophic situation' and feared the incident would result in a 'potential loss of life'.
'I can honestly say in my 35 years of policing, that was a perilous situation,' Acting Assistant Commissioner Johnson said at a press conference after the protest.
'I was honestly worried that we were going to have a major incident with potential loss of life.'
He commended the response of police who had 'really think about how we could get people safely out of that confined space and back into the city safely'.
'It came very close to us having almost a catastrophic situation'.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast on Monday morning, he thanked the crowd for their behaviour.
'They were very, very compliant. Minimal issues with no arrests. That went a long way to assisting us in resolving what could have been a very dire incident,' he said.
Thousands turn out in Melbourne
Another pro-Palestine protest formed outside Melbourne's State Library, with organisers walking to the King Street Bridge in solidarity with the Harbour Bridge demonstration.
The Melbourne protesters reached a police barrier ahead of the bridge.
Officers in riot gear blocked the protesters from crossing the bridge, where the protesters themselves were planning to engage a blockade.
One protester at the rally was seen with a sign reading: 'death, death to the IDF'.
Another burned an Australian flag on the road.
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