Hundreds of demonstrators gathered along the course of the Sydney Marathon to protest the participation of Israeli soldiers in the prestigious race, with pro-Palestine activists urging Australia’s government to explain the soldiers’ presence in the country.
The inclusion of 40 soldiers, some of whom were linked to Israeli genocide in Gaza, was the subject of online protests by rights organisations and activists in the week leading up to the marathon.
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On Sunday, protesters lined up along the course, waved Palestinian flags, and held posters calling for war criminals to be excluded from the event and for Australia to “cut ties with apartheid Israel”. Many wore keffiyehs and accessories featuring watermelons, the traditional symbols of Palestinian identity and resistance.
Al Jazeera was able to verify that at least one Israeli soldier participated in the race and finished it.
The Israeli marathon delegation included members of the Israeli army’s Golani Brigade and signal intelligence Unit 8200.
A member of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry that concluded Israel was committing genocide in Gaza describes Golani as one of the “most criminally accused brigades” in the Israeli military.
A member of this marathon delegation, Roy Oryon, served as deputy company commander in the brigade’s 13th Battalion, which fought in Gaza and has also served as the tip of the spear in Israel’s advance into southern Lebanon.
Golani troops have also been linked to the ambush of 15 paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza last year.
The decision by the Australian Department of Home Affairs to grant visas to these soldiers was questioned and criticised widely.
Online campaigns called on race organisers and state officials to investigate and potentially prosecute the participating soldiers, some of whom were identified by their names and military divisions.
“Australian authorities have a legal obligation to act,” read a statement from the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and seeks to end the occupation.
“Every state is obliged to investigate and prosecute those suspected of committing genocide,” the statement read.
Al Jazeera asked Australia’s Department of Home Affairs whether these individuals were subject to extra security screening or character checks, as Ministerial Direction 110 of the country’s Migration Act states that a person can be denied a visa if they belong to or are associated with a group “reasonably” suspected of involvement in genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said that they could not comment on individual cases “for privacy reasons”.
“All non-citizens who wish to travel to, enter, or remain in Australia must satisfy the requirements of the Migration Act 1958 [the Act] and the Migration Regulations 1994, including identity, health, character, and security requirements,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
“The department assesses all applications on a case-by-case basis, against legal requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation, including health, character, and security criteria.”
The Israeli soldiers touched down in Australia within days of Israel’s military refusing to pursue a criminal investigation into the killing of Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom.
Israel killed the 43-year-old Australian aid worker and six colleagues as they travelled in a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza in April 2024. Soldiers hit the convoy with three drone strikes.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) called for “urgent scrutiny” of reported Israeli participants last week.
“APAN says Australia cannot claim to uphold international law while potentially allowing individuals suspected of involvement in serious international crimes, including plausible genocide, to enter the country without proper investigation, and is demanding the Australian Government and [Australia Police Force] act before the event proceeds,” the organisation said in a statement on Thursday.
It criticised several Israel-linked organisations based in Australia for “sponsoring the arrival of up to 40 current and former Israeli soldiers, reportedly including members of the Golani Brigade, linked to the killing of humanitarian workers in Rafah, to run the Sydney Marathon in some Orwellian exercise in cultural exchange”.
