MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters breached security at Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof on Thursday as a…
Pro-Palestinian protesters breached security at Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof on Thursday as a senator quit the government over its direction on the Gaza war.
Tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas dominated Parliament’s final sitting day before a five-week break.
The four protesters were arrested after draping the words “war crimes” and “genocide” as well as the Palestinian rallying cry “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” for more than an hour over the building’s façade known as the Great Verandah.
Inside the building, Afghanistan-born Sen. Fatima Payman, the only Australian federal lawmaker ever to wear a hijab during sittings, announced she had quit the ruling Labor Party over her refusal to toe the party line on Gaza.
“My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people,” Payman told reporters.
