Parliament House has been placed into lockdown after Invasion Day protesters swarmed the front of the building to protest Australia Day and Israel’s war in Gaza.

A group of Indigenous rights protesters amassed on the lawn outside Parliament brandishing the Aboriginal flag, amid chants of “always was, always will be.” Others waved Palestinian flags and beat drums.

One woman yelled “F–k Israel, f–k Australia”, in response to parliamentary security shutting the doors.

The protest wrapped up at the tent embassy near Old Parliament House, where cries for Indigenous land rights mixed with pleas for the Palestinian cause. Some activists brandished signs calling for a boycott of Israeli goods and declaring the Jewish state was not “above the law”.

In Melbourne, hundreds of people gathered outside the Victorian Parliament House for the Invasion Day rally. Some protesters brought the Aboriginal and Palestinian flags, with some signs at the event appearing to co-opt both causes.

Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, the event’s organizers, said January 26 “is not a day to celebrate”. “It is an annual reminder of invasion, occupation, genocide, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation that continues to destroy our lives, our land, and our waters,” the group wrote on social media.

Free Palestine Melbourne, the organization that plans the weekly pro-Palestine rallies, has told their followers they will not hold a march this Sunday. Instead, they have instructed their followers to attend Friday’s Invasion Day protest. “We urge you to show up as you do weekly in your thousands and build up consciousness within your networks of the demands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this invasion day,” they said on Instagram.

Can I ask you to take a look at my recent post Spirituality of Indigenous Australians; The Truth of It. The number of European Christians who have given their lives to ensure Aborigines received the Gospel of Jesus Christ is countless.

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:12-14