Sam Watson welcome home to Magan-djin after Global Sumud Flotilla aid mission to Gaza.
Sam Watson was welcomed home to Magan-djin by around 70 supporters at Brisbane Domestic Airport yesterday after a terrible ordeal on the high seas and in detention at the hands of genocidal Israeli soldiers. Sam is suffering from cracked ribs, scratches, and jet lag, but otherwise, he is in good spirits.
Red_Action_Media had this to say:
“The mission is not over. The mission now is to keep organising and keep fighting against zionism and colonialism and oppression everywhere that it happens.” At the airport, Sam gave a brief report on the task undertaken by the Global Sumud Flotilla and spoke of the solidarity that carried the mission forward.
This is what Sam had to say:
Shot and edited by @stephboyvajda
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin posted the following on social media after Sam’s return home:
Today, the Australian colonial government continues to take children away at higher rates than ever, imprisoning Indigenous children en masse. This recognition of the colonial playbook is one of the reasons for Blackfulla solidarity with Palestine. It is one of the reasons Sam joined the GSF.
The Queensland Government is still arresting Aboriginal children at alarming rates. Children are being taken from their families and transported away from Country, denied the right to return home and remain connected to community. The Watson family, like many Aboriginal families, have carried on this struggle over generations, stretching back to the 1960s. Sam is part of that history and a product of that struggle. Sam’s grandfather, Uncle Sam Watson, was a leader in the struggle against apartheid and in the fight for the abolition of the Queensland Acts.
Chanting. A small number of Queensland police were in attendance at the airport, and while there was some chanting of ‘from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026) there were no arrests. I am guessing but I think the reason for this is twofold. Firstly we outnumbered the three police present 25 to 1. Secondly the enforcement of this law is selective and therefore political.
A big shout-out to everyone who has been asking about Sam and following his journey home.
Ian Curr, 27 May 2026
Commonwealth control over airport land does not displace the operation of state law, and private corporate ownership does not automatically extinguish public assembly protections.
Always was …
Chanting and wearing banned expressions
A small number of Queensland police were in attendance at the airport on return of global sumud flotilla activists. On one occasion a person wore one of the phrases banned on her t-shirt. On another occasion, there was some chanting of ‘from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)
There were no arrests. I am guessing, but I think the reason for this is twofold:
Firstly, we outnumbered the three police present 25 to 1.
Secondly, the enforcement of this law is selective and therefore political.
I give my analysis of the legal questions at play below:
COMMONWEALTH PLACES (APPLICATION OF LAWS) ACT 1970 – SECT 4
Application of laws in Commonwealth places
(1) The provisions of the laws of a State as in force at a time (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) apply, or shall be deemed to have applied, in accordance with their tenor, at that time in and in relation to each place in that State that is or was a Commonwealth place at that time.
I have not attached the whole section, but on my reading, there is no exemption, and s52D of the Queensland Criminal law will apply.
Anyone uttering these phrases at the airport may be arrested and conveyed to the Brisbane City Watchouse and subsequently brought before a magistrate at the Roma Street arrest court.
How such individual actions advance the ‘Not our Law’ campaign is a political question for organised political groups to determine.
However, our strength so far has been our ability to take organised collective action in defiance of these laws.
People in attendance should be aware that despite the airport being owned by a private unlisted company, police powers re trespass, protests, etc are still subject to assembly protections because it is a ‘public place’ under under Qld’s unique Peaceful Assembly Act 1992.
Always will be, Aboriginal Land!
Ian Curr
27 May 2026