Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have blocked access to a joint US-Australian defence facility in the Northern Territory, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The small group of protesters gathered on Hatt Road near Pine Gap, the military intelligence base outside Alice Springs, from dawn until just before 10am on Friday.
One of the activists, who asked to be referred to only as Nic, said the group was there in the hope of disrupting military intelligence during the conflict in the Middle East.
The group, which included members of the Alice Springs Jewish and Indigenous communities, wanted to show solidarity with the Palestinian people, Nic said.
"The Australian government needs to stand up and call on the Israeli government to stop bombing civilians in Gaza," she told AAP after the protest.
"We want the Australian government to make that call and stand up against war crimes and genocide."
Video of the protest showed cars queued on the way to Pine Gap in the early morning.
Footage showed police and firefighters later standing next to a protester chained to a barrel on the road, while the activists chanted "Long live Palestine".
Northern Territory Police Acting Commander James Gray-Spence said a 35-year-old woman was arrested.
She was later charged with obstructing the use of a public road and failure to stop loitering.
Police cleared the road and continue to investigate the demonstration.
Thousands of Australians have joined protests in support of Palestinians amid Israeli forces' bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after a bloody incursion by the Islamist group's fighters on October 7 left more than 1000 dead.
More than 3000 Palestinian civilians have been reported killed since then, including hundreds in a single attack at a hospital.
Pine Gap protest organiser Shoshana Rosenberg, an academic based in Melbourne, said one of the Jewish activists read a traditional prayer of mourning.
"This is an event of public grief and mourning, as well as action and movement towards a ceasefire," she said.
"We are calling for a ceasefire in the immediate sense and ultimately calling for a free Palestine."
The protester facing charges was granted bail and is due to appear in Alice Springs Local Court on November 16.
Australian Associated Press
