Neither brutal assaults, nor cruel mistreatment, nor torture have ever led me to beg for mercy, for I prefer to die with my head held high, unshakable faith, and the greatest confidence in the destiny of my country rather than live in slavery and contempt for sacred principles. – Patrice Lumumber.
This is my 9th Big Ride for Palestine Australia. Next year will be our 10th! We are hoping for better news in 2026.
I rode the equivalent in Brisbane of the Nablus loop through Gaza and back, with detours to the hills of Jenin, a distance in all of about 700 kms. I made it through all the checkpoints, phew! One day, I hope to meet up with the Gaza Sunbirds!
Officially, there are effectively zero direct crossings for Palestinians travelling from Nablus (in the West Bank) to Gaza Strip via standard land routes. I am not Palestinian. In a training Road I rode from Brisbane to the Gold Coast which we covered (with a friend) in three hours .
Leaving Nablus area, I passed 2–5 major internal checkpoints/entrances. That left 565 movement‐obstacles (checkpoints, gates, roadblocks) in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem).
Israel can’t send doctors and medical aid to Gaza that’s 10 miles away … but will send a medical team to help in Jamaica after Cyclone Melissa.
The Nablus loop
1. Nablus (نابلس)
2. Qalqilya (قلقيلية)
3. Jaffa (يافا)
4. Lod / Lydda (اللد)
5. Ramla (الرملة)
6. Ashdod (أسدود)
7. Ashkelon (عسقلان)
8. Beersheba (بئر السبع)
9. Rafah (رفح)
10. Khan Yunis (خان يونس)
11. Hebron (الخليل)
12. Bethlehem (بيت لحم)
13. Jerusalem / Al-Quds (القدس)
14. Ramallah (رام الله)
15. Nablus (نابلس)
Plus a detour to Jenin.
Thanks to all that participated and donated.
Ian Curr • The Big Ride for Palestine Australia 2025 https://share.google/Y25uEpcyu8MAERO0h
رفاقنا الفلسطينيون الأعزاء، من النهر إلى البحر سيكونون أحراراً!
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CwBTKUrrr/
Ian Curr, 39 Nov 2025
Ian Curr I don’t understand why you can’t be glad to have lived long enough to witness the birth of the State of Palestine. You have worked most of your life for this, don’t turn your back now. It is a complicated birth with lots of blood and pain and disagreements about who the father is and there is no guarantee Palestine will survive, but this existential moment in history is a time for hope not mourning, a time of victory not defeat.
John Tracey @ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FsyiJQ2pA/
Fact check. There is no state of Palestine, nor is there recognition of Palestine by the United Nations.
The United States denies the existence of Palestine. It would not even allow Abu Mazen to speak at the UN in New York during the vote of recognition that the US vetoed in the security council. Israel is dedicated to the destruction of Palestine and to the murder and expulsion of its people from their homelands.
Israel has imposed a state of lawlessness from the river to the sea. Neither Israel nor the United States have any respect for international law and instruments of the UN, such as the ICJ, which has no means of enforcement of international law.
In fact, the UN created the problem by recognising a lawless apartheid genocidal state from the get-go in 1948.
In the meantime the Zionist project has moved on … they are imposing their own special brand of contempt for humanity and depravity while you sit in your easy chair making absurd proclamations about things we know so little about.
You are unable to make the simple endorsement of the collective will of the Palestinian resistance, that is, to be free from the river to the sea! You are not alone in your blindness.
You were unable to see that there was ever a ceasefire this time, nor at any time before that. You simply jumped your contrarian gun, bagging the solidarity movement that has grown since Hamas attacked Israeli settlements built on the ruins of 11 villages under Israeli rule 40 in 1948.
Rule 40 was the instruction to armed Zionist militia to burn Palestinian houses, demolish stone buildings, murder their inhabitants, and drive survivors into Gaza.
Currently, there is no Palestinian embassy in Canberra. There is a General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific. Nor is there an ambassador/head of delegation. The previous head of the Palestinian delegation (2006-2024) was Izzat Abdulhadi .
There is a Chargé d’Affaires,” Noura Saleh, who hosted a Palestinian-community delegation from Gaza in August 2025.
After nearly 80 years since our foreign minister, Doc Evatt, helped set up the state of Israel on Palestinian land, Australia finally recognised the State of Palestine on 21 September 2025.
However, the structure of representation remains via the same General Delegation — there is no public announcement of a new “ambassador” replacing Abdulhadi.
I think the solidarity movement should do its best to rectify this parlous situation and help the Palestinian diaspora set up tent Palestinian embassies in every town and city to recognise that Palestine 🇵🇸 will one day be free from the river to the sea.
Ian Curr
3 December 2025
You might be right about all that Ian, unlike you I do not claim to know better than the Palestinian resistance. For me the issue is very simple, I support indigenous sovereignty and self determination and therefore I support the agenda of the Palestinian resistance. The Palestinian resistance including Hamas is united behind the State of Palestine and has unanimously endorsed Abbas and the Palestinian Authority as the interim government in Gaza and the West Bank until elections can be held. This was the basis of Hamas’s negotiations in the prisoner swap, they stuck to the Beijing declaration of unity. That is what I support. The State of Palestine has an embassy in Canberra and has asked Australia to send peace keepers, I support that too. You dump shit on the Palestinian Authority and deny the existence of the State of Palestine – you are opposed to the agenda of the Palestinian resistance. There is no middle ground or high moral ground, only the blood and guts of existential reality. Whose side are you on?
Fact check – the State of Palestine is recognised by most countries in the world, is a member of BRICS and has non-voting observer status with the right to speak, respond and move motions at the UN.
I can understand you’re getting the hump, John. But you’re not living the struggle every day as Palestinians have been here for the last 50 years. It is hard to be Palestinian for the last 80 years … you can’t understand and you never will because you are a contrarian.
For the past 2 years, JFP have been part of the resistance to the genocide. It was formed in 2009. For the past 50-60 years, the Palestinian diaspora have followed the resistance, they have supported the PLO. Since 2011 Palestinians in places like Nablus have called for unity:
Our cause is freedom — to win freedom
Hey Haneer! Hey Abbas!
Our unity is the base that we can stand on!
Our unity is the base that we can stand on!
This is a secular movement not caught up in sectarian religion.
It is true that the two-state solution is a terrible lie. It was a lie when Lord Balfour declared it in 1917. It was a lie in 1948 when the UN supported the establishment of Israel on Palestinian land. It is a recipe for lying down and giving up.
But people are entitled to have these differences and to struggle for freedom. Its called sumud.
The solidarity movement has always been part of the struggle. The unity of the Palestinians in Brisbane from the 7th of October onwards has been in no doubt. It need not be said, I do not speak for Palestinians, they have spoken for themselves.
This is a video a Palestinian friend shot with my camera in Nablus.
Ian Curr
3 December 2025
John, you use the word ’sovereignty’, That is a very European, a very safe word used to support kings and queens.
I am a republican, not a big R Republican like the english, Malcolm Turnbull, a socialist republic is what I voted for.
republic, not sovereign
Circa 2009, you (John Tracey) wrote this about two-state solution: “However the Israeli vision of two state apartheid is very much a part of the in-your-face clashes in Palesitine. There is a plan, and it is being implemented.”
So why eccept something in 2025 that you did not accept in 2009?
The Big Ride for Palestine – Australia: Day 23. The Finale!
Our campaign for this year drew to a close, with group activities in Adelaide, Euroa, and Brisbane.
It has been wonderful to see people around Australia join together and actively participate in this show of solidarity with the Palestinian people. We had 134 people sign up, riding, running and walking over 10,000 km, and 415 people have donated almost $24,000 to APHEDA – Union Aid Abroad’s Palestinian projects with the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organisation and the Ma’an Development Centre.
In Brisbane our finale consisted of a ride to Long Pocket, speeches by Moniqua Reid from APHEDA and Remah Naji from Justice for Palestine Magan-djin followed by a celebration with the Al Zayton Dabke Dancers, who shared their vibrant dances, showing that Palestinian culture is alive and well!
Thanks to Omar for his photos.
After 11 weeks of riding every day, firstly 8 weeks for ‘From Australia to Cuba With Love’ and then 3 weeks for The Big Ride for Palestine I am ready for a little break! But of course the struggle for a better world continues!!
Thanks to all our supporters, the donors and especially to all those who participated. Every step, every turn of the pedals, every metre takes us one step closer to a fairer, more just world.
Final call for donations! Visit https://big-ride-4-pal.raiselysite.com/
#FreePalestine
#abetterworldispossible