Special Bulletin- Palm Sunday Peace Walk in Castlemaine

Dear Localising Leanganook e-newsletter subscribers,

Please find below a special e-news bulletin about next Sunday’s Palm Sunday Peace Walk in Castlemaine. Localising Leanganook wishes to support this important local initiative.

Please Note: Our usual monthly e-news will be published at the end of March.

Palm Sunday Peace Walk- Castlemaine

When: Sunday March 24, 2024, 11.30am

Where: Gather at the Uniting Church on Lyttleton st, at 11.30am, and arriving at 12.15 at Jaara (Victory) Park, for speeches and music.

Uniting the traditions of Palm Sunday Peace Marches with the weekly Free Palestine rallies, the Castlemaine community are invited to gather together across race, culture, faith and politics – for peace and justice for all.  

Based in Christian traditions, over the past several decades Palm Sunday Peace marches have become a place for ecumenical and non-faith based communities to come together with “the common purpose of compassion for others and a passion for justice”[1] (https://www.insights.uca.org.au/the-palm-sunday-peace-march-some-history/)

 The Castlemaine community has been gathering every Sunday to bear witness and show solidarity with the Palestinian community as horrors in Gaza continue to be live-streamed on our devices, but dismissed by governments and media.

 Palm Sunday brings us the opportunity to broaden out this event and focus together on working for bringing peace and justice everywhere. From here in Australia where First Nations peoples continue to be impacted by colonisation and refugees are often met with suspicion and racism, to the many conflicts active across the world, we need to be tackling the root causes of such violence and offering compassion and support to those displaced and damaged by these systems of oppression.

Rev Sarah Tomilson from the Castlemaine Uniting Church said: “It’s time for us to come together, regardless of religion or culture, to meet on Country in the spirit of peace to keep alive the hope for a greater humanity. This is what we can do. This is what we must do. “

We will be gathering at the Uniting Church on Lyttleton Street for a walk ending at Jaara (Victory) Park for speeches and music. Participants are invited to bring gum branches for the walk. All are welcome. 

This event is co-hosted by Castlemaine Commons and Free Palestine Central Vic and supported by the Castlemaine Uniting Church.

Like all Free Palestine Central Vic events this is a safe and inclusive event. We condemn and oppose all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Please get in touch if you have any specific accessibility requirements.

We acknowledge Dja Dja Wurrung as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live, work and organise. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and their emerging leaders. We recognise that the ongoing land theft, occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people is deeply connected to First Nations struggles here and across the globe.

For more information, contact Emma King on 0428 818 109