Plan for ‘Tens of Thousands’ To March Across Auckland Harbour Bridge for Palestine and Climate

Palestine Action is hoping a large crowd will join a planned march on Sept. 13, which would block traffic over a busy stretch of Auckland road.

Hikoi (community march) members walk across the Auckland Harbour Bridge on day three of a nine-day journey to Wellington in New Zealand on Nov. 13, 2024. A hīkoi is traveling across New Zealand, with Māori communities marching to Wellington to protect and advocate for the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi and unique Māori rights. Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

Protests demanding greater action on climate change and sanctions against Israel will combine in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sept. 13 in what organisers hope is an event that will attract “tens of thousands” of people to march across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge.

Last time a march travelled over the bridge—nine months ago during a protest against a controversial law that Parliament later dropped—which saw about 5,000 people walk across, there were significant traffic delays. But that was on a Wednesday morning.

Police have confirmed that protest organisers, Aotearoa for Palestine—a coalition of Palestinians and Māori—“have signalled the intent to march over the Auckland Harbour Bridge.”

The announcement follows similar marches over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, attracting 50 and 100 thousand protesters.

The march aimed to emphasise and highlight demands that the New Zealand government sanction Israel, spokeswoman Nadine Mortaja said in a statement.

“The genocide in Gaza is undeniable. Forced starvation is being used as a weapon of war, along with mass killing and the destruction of Gaza’s health system,“ she said. ”New Zealand has a moral and legal obligation to act and must sanction Israel now.”

Marchers plan to call for an immediate unconditional ceasefire and end to the blockade of Gaza, and the reinstatement of the U,N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to “allow life-saving aid to safely enter Gaza.”

Police say they are working with partner agencies such as the NZ Transport Authority (NZTA) to manage the event and ensure the public knows how it will affect them.

Today, organisers said the remit of the march will be extended to “connect the dots between climate justice and human rights.”

“There’s a reason that climate activists such as Greta Thunberg are joining peace flotillas aiming to break the illegal siege on Gaza,” said a spokesperson for 350.0rg New Zealand, a campaign for clean energy. “It’s about standing up for every person suffering, whether from war, climate disasters, famines, or other injustices.”

A recent study revealed that the carbon footprint of the first 15 months of the Gaza war will be greater than the annual emissions of a hundred individual countries.

The long-term cost to the climate of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). About half of those emissions came from the supply and use of weapons, tanks, and other ordnance by the Israeli military.

“If we choose to show up in massive numbers this Saturday, the New Zealand government will feel escalated pressure to finally sanction Israel and end New Zealand’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes,” the spokesperson said.

Israel has consistently denied that it is committing war crimes in Gaza, calling such claims “grossly distorted.”