Pro-Palestinian protesters have climbed onto the roof of the Australian parliament.
Three lone protesters carried out the shocking act, shouting: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
After a few minutes of silence, protesters at the main entrance to the courtyard began shouting the same slogans.
Their voices were hoarse from shouting in the courtyard and their faces were covered.
When there was no shouting, they used tape to keep the banners from flying off the roof.
Representatives of the Australian Federal Police said they were aware of the situation.
Previously, climate activists used glue to attach themselves to marble in the main entrance.
They shouted, ‘Albanians, blood on your hands! Penny Wong, blood on your hands! Richard Marles, blood on your hands!’
Pro-Palestinian protesters have climbed onto the roof of the Australian parliament
The police sprayed the demonstrators with anti-stick spray.
Moments later, cleaners were busy removing the remaining glue from the marble pillars.
A number of paper airplanes were torpedoed from the roof.
One was covered in a smear of blood and was flown from the roof to the ground. It said ‘war crimes’ on the front.
“If we were in Palestine, they would be real bombs, but we only have paper airplanes,” one protester explained from the roof of parliament.
The protesters indicated that they would “stay here” for a while before going down.
They would like to speak to Anthony Albanese or Penny Wong.
‘The protesters chant: ‘One, two, three, f*** the ALP! Four, five, six, f*** the ALP!’ and shout ‘All Zionists are terrorists.’
One protester threw a paper map off the roof, reaching further than the rest. The lead protester congratulated him on a good throw.
The protest constituted a major security incident and it is unclear how the demonstrators got to the roof of the parliament building.
The protest takes place on the last day of the federal parliament before it meets for five weeks.
One protester accuses the Albanian government of being complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and indigenous Australians.
The protester criticised Australia’s involvement in the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Federal MP Keith Pitt said at the protest: “It is important that all parties in politics ensure that we do not encourage others to take these kinds of risks.”
“We are an Australian government, we support the right to protest, but you cannot put yourself in harm’s way.”
“I’ve seen this happen before. We put up extra fencing. That would have taken a lot of organizing,” Pitt said.
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham strongly criticised the protesters.
“We defend freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”
“But that must be done in a way that does not put other people at risk and does not cause significant disruption to other Australians,” Birmingham said.
‘Many Australians have been stuck in traffic jams for hours as extremist protesters gathered along the road.’
The protesters hung banners from the roof of the parliament building.
One reads ‘WAR CRIMES’, the other ‘No Peace on Stolen Land, Genocide Since 1788’.
A third banner read: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.
At around 11.15am they began removing the banners of the Australian coat of arms.
The demonstrators then had to fight their way over metal trusses, between large sheets of glass, to get off the roof.
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