Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs “We tried writing letters and doing things like that, but we simply haven’t seen change getting enforced. And so if you want something to happen, you’ve got to be willing to make that change happen yourself. So today we’ve come [to the CBD],” Balbin said.“As a community, we bring peace and love and joy, entrepreneurship and all these great things, but we can’t do that if we’re living in fear. So some of us have to make that first stand.”On the pro-Palestine side, about 1300 protesters rallied outside Parliament for an hour before marching down Lonsdale Street to meet the usual weekly protest outside the State Library, where the crowd swelled to more than 2000 people.On that side, too, there was anger and defiance. Some within the crowd expressed anger at the media. Several journalists, including from this masthead, were heckled to “tell the truth!” and accused of being “Zionist puppets”. Small groups of protesters attempted to push media workers out of the protest crowd.Outside the State Library, rally organiser Basil El-Ghattis told the crowd: “Zionists want to intimidate this movement and intimidate us so that they can get some words that they can use in the media to enact the proposed laws of antisemitism.”El-Ghattis said there was nothing antisemitic about standing up for Palestinians having the right to decide their own fate.“We’re not here to attack the Jews. Just before this rally, in front of the Parliament, our Jewish brothers and sisters have organised the rally … and this shows you that this movement [is] … nothing to do [with] religion. It’s not against the Jews. It’s not about the Christians, not about the Muslims. It’s not about any other religious or ethnic group.”For Balbin and his fellow protesters on the other side of the divide, the use of “Zionist” as a slur by pro-Palestinian activists is unforgivable.“If you deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, you’re being a racist,” he said.“Quite frankly, all people on this Earth have the right to self-determination.”On the last point, at least, both sides of the divide would agree.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
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