It’s been more than two years since Shamikh Badra last heard from his brother. He presumes his brother, sister-in-law and their four children lie buried under the rubble of their home in Gaza. He fears they were buried alive.
Badra told his family’s story at a march in Sydney last Sunday organised by the Palestine Action Group, protesting against Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s upcoming visit.
“This is what genocide looks like in real life,” he bellowed into a microphone to the crowd of at least 2,000 people. “This is what incitement produces, this is what dehumanisation does.
“And now, we are told the man who defended these policies is welcome in Australia.”
Badra is among many Palestinian Australians shocked Herzog will land in Australia on Monday for a four-day visit. In the words of Palestinian Australian Raneem Emad, it’s “a slap in the face”.
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Amid the outpouring of grief and anger over December’s terrorist attack at a Hanukah gathering on Sydney’s Bondi beach, much of the political focus – including Herzog’s invitation – has, justifiably, centred around antisemitism and the treatment of Jewish Australians.
But many Palestinian Australians grieving for their loved ones in Gaza feel that new anti-protest and hate speech laws are unfairly targeting them.
‘Our lives are worth less’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, invited
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