More anti-war protests planned

Pro-Palestinian activists are planning to ramp up their protests against Unanderra business Bisalloy Steel, an advocate for Palestinian rights said.

Wollongong Friends of Palestine’s most recent Bisalloy protest, which involved tents and campervans posted outside the company’s Unanderra premises, lasted for two days from 8pm on February 8 to 4pm on February 10. The group’s ongoing actions at the site are in protest of what they say is Bisalloy Steel’s supply of armoured steel exports to Israel during the war in Gaza 

“Our next picket is yet to be confirmed, but it's hopefully going to be longer [than two days],” Safaa Rayan, spokesperson for Wollongong Friends of Palestine, said.

“And the longer we can shut down Bisalloy’s operations from supplying that steel, It may mean, we are disrupting the weapons trade, or part of the weapons trade. 

“Our government continually tells us that we don't make weapons in Australia. We supply non-lethal parts, but every non-lethal part going into a lethal weapon creates those weapons that are killing people. And if we can disrupt that supply chain, we can help stop … the industrial complex that is known as the war machine.”

Safaa was speaking during an Q&A session held after a screening of the documentary Until the Sky Falls Quiet at Warrawong’s Gala Cinema on Saturday. 

More than 50 people attended the screening of the documentary, which focusses on two doctors from Western Sydney – Dr Siraj Sira and Dr Sanjay Adusumilli – who travelled to Gaza in April 2024 to provide medical support to people in the war zone.

At the Q&A session, Dr Sanjay said, “Even now it's very hard to talk about without getting upset with what we've seen. 

“It’s indescribable … and you can't forget those sorts of things when you see them.

“I'm regularly getting messages from close friends there, so they tell me regularly about what's happening, but there's still a lot of bombardments happening. There’s still violence, there's still a lot of killing happening. 

“It has settled to an extent compared to how bad it was, but it's not a safe area, and the difficulties they have now is there's nowhere for them to live. There's no homes, there's no shelter.”

To host your own screening of the movie, no matter how small, or support the filmmakers in other ways, visit their website.