Every single week for the last 21 weeks upon #Gadigal land, there have been thousands upon thousands (sometimes easily tens of thousands) of people gathering in support of a #ceasefire in #Gaza and calling upon the Australian #Albanese government to stop supporting #Israel in its #genocide.
Every Sunday in Hyde Park at 1.30pm,* we've listened to #Aboriginal speakers, #Palestinian speakers, #Jewish speakers, politicians of various stripes (though neither of the major parties, of course, as they both remain complicit in support of the government responsible for most of the slaughter), elders who lived through the #Naqba, teenagers organising #StudentStrike4Palestine, community leaders, poets, faith leaders and more, with perhaps 75% of the speakers being women, and almost all being people of colour (most of the exceptions being MPs).
*Except when #NSWpolice has dictated otherwise, giving priority to (much smaller and only) occasional pro-Israel rallies and forcing a shift to Saturday a couple of times, under threat of #PoliceViolence.
Then we've marched (or rolled) with flags, banners, signs, drums and (loud!) voices: Arab, Aboriginal, African, Anglo, Asian and more; from those too old to walk (in wheelchairs) to those too young to walk (in strollers).
These #ceasefire rallies in support of Palestinians in #Gaza (and the #WestBank) have been, hands down, the most successfully sustained #MassProtests I've ever witnessed on this continent. Individual events have occasionally been bigger—the massive #StopTheWar effort in 2003, a handful of climate rallies, the annual #InvasionDay march—and there are protests that have been sustained much longer (nothing comes close to the multi-decade #AboriginalTentEmbassy), but I've never seen weekly rallies of this size sustained for anything like this long (>5 months and counting).
As I understand it, it is not just here on #Gadigal land in Sydney either, but similar events have been held weekly (or close to it) in most capital cities, with myriad further protests beyond that.
3/6 #Auspol#StopTheGenocide
“ This workshop is an introduction to and exploration of decolonising your magical practice. Respecting the spirit of this ancient land; acknowledging the Traditional Owners and their kinship to the land, honouring Ancestors and Spirits of Place. Deep listening, respectfully connecting to country and being in active solidarity with First Nations communities and causes. […] Raphael Lavallee is a Ngarigo-Buhlung from the Ngarigo and Yuin nations. Ngarigo is their Grandmothers country, and Yuin is their Grandfathers country. They are a Reclaiming Witch a WildWood Witch, a Priestess, artist, ritualist, a ceremony and law/lore keeper, meditation teacher, expressive and cultural arts therapist, experienced workshop facilitator and fat activist.”
It is widely understood that Christian proselytism is one of the most damaging aspects of the colonisation of so-called Australia. However, many aren’t aware that even less mainstream spiritualities inherit similar attitudes which invalidate or exploit First Nation peoples and cultures. This workshop is an excellent way of showing solidarity to Indigenous grief surrounding the events of 26th January, 1788 (Invasion Day or so-called “Australia Day”). :firstnations:
I have personally attended this workshop, and found it extremely insightful. Raph helped answer questions I had on how to ethically connect with nature on a spiritual level as a non-Indigenous inhabitant of so-called Australia, and enhanced my understanding of Indigenous wisdom, culture and truth-telling. It is my strong belief that we should support local/indie initiatives, especially those owned/run by Indigenous people. 💚
Many thousands gathered today in Hyde Park on #Gadigal land. Members of both the NSW & federal governments had said this event ought to be prevented from occurring, including #ALP Premier #ChrisMinns.
Speakers included Aboriginal, Palestinian & Jewish leaders. They spoke of the horrific violence against the population of #Gaza, and linked this to #colonial violence in these lands (amongst other points). #Antisemitism was vigorously and repeatedly condemned as antithetical to the #AntiRacist convictions of the rally's organisers, the very convictions that lead many people into #solidarity with oppressed #Palestinians.
Mass protest rallies always bring the risk of violence from outside agitators & troublemakers. Sure enough, present on the fringes of the crowd this afternoon were numerous groups of intimidating armed figures in dark clothing, members of a notoriously #racist organisation, responsible for many violent deaths & injuries, and for causing countless incidents at a variety of political gatherings. It's an old organisation that has not (as far as I'm aware) ever publicly renounced its historical participation in genocidal violence. Fortunately, I believe today's gathering proceeded without the #NSWpolice stirring up any further trouble.
Long before #Sydney Opera House excavations began in the 1950s, the site – known as Tubowgule – was a meeting point for the local #Gadigal people of the #Eora nation.
The area was strewn with the debris of family feasts and ceremonies, creating myriad ancestral middens over thousands of years.
With the arrival of the first fleet, convict women were put to work collecting the oyster shells and bones from the middens, burning them down to create the lime that formed the cement mortar that built Australia’s first Government House, which overlooks #Bennelong Point to this day.
Tiny pieces of semi-combusted petrol, microscopic specks of charred timber from a fireplace, minute scraps of coal ash, little flecks of tyre rubber, miniature particles of a gum tree lit now to avoid burning later: all this and more is particulate matter. Stuff small enough to float on the breeze for a while.
And some of it is small enough to flit through your nasal hairs, to sidestep the phlegm lining your trachea, to find a home deep in the alveoli of your lungs, indeed, so titchy it can cross into your bloodstream, travelling along your arterial highways and byways into heart, belly and brain.
Our bodies can handle a bit of this. A bit.
But not much. Not of the really tiny stuff.
Particulate matter is one of the most harmful forms of #AirPollution, contributing to many millions of premature deaths each year, and compromising the health and wellbeing of billions. Particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter are the most dangerous (a human hair is about 75 microns wide). These are called PM2.5.
The World Health Organisation updated its guidelines in 2021.
Chronic exposure to PM2.5 ought to be kept below a concentration of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.
Acute exposure (no more than a handful of times annually) should be kept below 15.
In NSW, the Environmental Protection Agency monitors and reports on air quality across a couple of dozen of sites across the state, with data updated each hour, and measurements for seven different pollutants recorded (of which PM2.5 is often the most concerning).
Unfortunately, this quality data is only available a couple of hours behind real-time, meaning that in a rapidly-changing situation (bushfire smoke being blown across the city, for instance), it doesn't really help.
There is an app (Air Visual) that collates readings from amateur atmospheric enthusiasts using commercially-available home monitoring equipment. The data is provided in close to real-time yet without much quality control.
To help people understand the data, and adjust behaviour based on risk, NSW EPA uses a 5-step colour-coded warning system that runs from "good" through to "extremely poor".
However, according to NSW EPA, air quality is still "good" when PM2.5 is at 25µg/m^3. Contrast with WHO guideline for chronic exposure of >5µg/m^3.
For the last few hours, based on real-time amateur data, #Gadigal land in central Sydney has been north of 100µg/m^3 (EPA data is around 80; 2 hours old), rated as "very poor".
Time to stay inside. Wear an #N95 mask if you have to go outside. Use air filters if you can. #NSWpol 2/2