Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian rally in Auckland, call for Israel’s elimination

Tens of thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel march in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, on Saturday, in what organizers said was the largest rally of its kind since the war in Gaza began between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas.

Some 50,000 attended the March for Humanity rally in central Auckland on Saturday morning, the Aotearoa for Palestine group said. New Zealand police estimated the attendance at 20,000.

Aotearoa for Palestine spokesperson Arama Rata said it was New Zealand’s largest march in support of Palestinians since the conflict broke out in Gaza with the Hamas-led cross-border massacre in which terrorists killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapped 251 hostages on October 7, 2023.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry has said that more than 64,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Gaza — though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters — while humanitarian organizations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation. Israel has denied accusations that it caused a humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 465.

Many in Saturday’s protest crowd carried Palestinian flags and banners with slogans including “Don’t normalize genocide” and “Grow a spine; stand with Palestine,” public broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported.

Protesters chanted, “We don’t want no two states, we want all the ’48,” a call for the elimination of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian state.

Organizers, motivated by a march that shut down Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge in August, wanted to close a major city bridge with Saturday’s rally, Rata said, but were forced to abandon those plans on Friday due to strong winds.

Police said there were no arrests at the march and that roads along the route were being reopened.

Aotearoa for Palestine said it wanted New Zealand’s center-right coalition government to impose sanctions on Israel.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, in August, described recent Israeli actions in Gaza, including a lack of humanitarian assistance, as “utterly appalling,” and New Zealand has been weighing up whether to recognize a Palestinian state.

The New Zealand Jewish Council, a body representing around 10,000 Jews who live in the country, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the march.