Palm Sunday – Open Space for Peace

There will be an Armidale gathering on Palm Sunday, 10^th April at 10 o’clock at the Judith Wright Grove at the corner of Dumaresq and Faulkner Streets, across from the Farmers’ Market.

It will start with a 20 minute silent vigil. Then at around 10:30 there will be an ‘Open Space’ where one person at a time can step forward and read a poem, sing a song or share a sentence or two. This is open to all. People may wish to bring signs to prop up around the area. Bring your own chair if you wish, and if appropriate, an umbrella. It is expected to draw to a close by 11.30am.

Palm Sunday Marches and Rallies have a rich history, calling on people from both faith and secular backgrounds to call for nonviolent approaches to contentious public policies.

The event is based on the account of Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem on a donkey, which some Biblical scholars interpret as a piece of anti-imperial political theatre, a demonstration designed to mock the obscene pomp of the Roman empire.

During the 1980s, energised by the anti-nuclear movement, and in the early 2000s by our invasion of Iraq, there have been large rallies across Australia, including Armidale.

Since the 2010s, Palm Sunday rallies have focused on Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers, with many people coming together to call for justice and dignity to be shown towards refugees here in Australia and for people seeking asylum around the world.

Along with all of these issues, the escalating crisis in Ukraine, the renewed nuclear threats and the effects of climate change, it is important that we should acknowledge their inter-connections and gather together to advocate for peace, justice and compassion.

The Armidale Palm Sunday Open Space for Peace has been organised by members of Armidale Rural Australians for Refugees (ARAR), the Peace Action group of Sustainable Living Armidale (SLA), and Armidale Women in Black.