John Salisbury in Sydney John Salisbury, speaking to activists and members of the public in Sydney

Australian activist John Salisbury, joined by a number of Palestinian solidarity activists, launched the “Recognise Palestine Walk 2016” on Sunday, a 300-kilometre march from the Australian city of Sydney to the capital, Canberra.

The activists, set to arrive in Canberra on 11 October, aim to deliver a petition to the Australian House of Representatives, asking their government to recognise the state of Palestine.

Palestinian People Party official Shamekh Badra told Ma’an yesterday that the petition was signed by thousands of Australians, including politicians and academics, to support the Palestinian cause.

Badra stressed the importance of such efforts to gain international recognition of Palestine, saying a Palestinian state must be established to resist Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory.

On its website, the Australian Friends of Palestine Association quoted Salisbury as saying: “From 2-11 October 2016 I will once again walk from Sydney to Canberra in support of Palestinian human rights.”

“The walk will follow the path of a similar endeavour in 2014 led by Israeli academic Dr. Marcelo Svirsky and the same walk by myself in 2015. I will carry with me a petition asking our elected representatives to formally recognise the State of Palestine. Over 130 countries have formally recognised Palestine. Why not Australia?”

Images from the Facebook group of Recognise Palestine Walk. Some images are from John Salisbury’s previous walk.