The struggle for Aboriginal rights in Australia has historically been fought through an understanding of intersectional liberation. With the legacy of colonialism casting a long shadow over the socio-political landscapes of many nations, Indigenous communities have ensured the colonial hegemony is criticised as a whole, rather than just in its individual instances.

Transnational solidarity between Blakfullas and Palestinians has always existed, with large contingents of mob at Palestinian protests and the latter at events like Invasion Day and Black Lives Matter rallies. This solidarity is not new and recent efforts only unveil the decades of collaboration between two anti-genocide movements.

During the 1970s, Gumbaynggirr activist Gary Foley began politically organising with Palestinian activist Ali Kazak to introduce anti-imperialist actions against the Australian and Israeli occupation of Indigenous land. In the decades to follow, the relationship forged an internationalist movement, with many supporters drawing direct parallels between the Palestinian Nakba and January 26th Invasion Day.

This mutual experience of dispossession and colonial theft of ancestral lands is what bonds us. As Palestinians are ethnically cleansed, forcibly removed from their homes and children scream for their parents whilst a genocide unfolds, Blakfullas cannot help but to feel an undeniable sense of similarity. For many, this feeling is natural; Aboriginal people do not have to be persuaded to practise our humanity, as we have always remained clear eyed and connected to those who suffer under the same systems that we do.

We join in our shared struggle for land back and self-determination.

Land remains at the centrefold of both our movements, with the Black and Palestinian identity being woven into the material traditions and practices of both our cultures.

For mob, we hold Dreaming in our land, we have songlines and traditions that are passed through generations, with our Country being the messenger. For Palestinians, land is livelihood, a unification of rituals, family, ethics and traditions like agriculture and embroidery.

On one hand, we share a common understanding of the beauty of our land and the sacrifices we make for it. On the other, we know the lengths that Western imperialism will go to slaughter, bombard and dispossess us to take land.

Since 1948, Palestinians have been in this struggle, with Palestine cited then as "a land without a people for a people without a land". Meanwhile, in Australia, mob suffered the ongoing effect of the legal concept 'terra nullius' meaning 'land belonging to no-one'. Therein lies our solidarity, an unequivocal struggle for continuity and connection to our homelands and the toil against settler colonialism to maintain our very existence.

To criticise this solidarity or assert that it is somehow anti-Jewish, is ahistorical and acts as a disservice to the years of work and change created by leading Black activists and their communities.

For political leaders to champion for an Aboriginal Voice or land rights, but to ignore the seventy-six year ongoing genocide of Palestinians is counter-intuitive to real justice.

We understand that our liberation is bound to the liberation of not only Palestinians but all those who suffer under colonial rule, therefore we will not accept anything less but freedom and justice for all.

Justice for Indigenous people in Australia cannot even be imagined whilst the nation continues to be a primary arms and training provider to places like Indonesia and Israel who violently occupy West Papua and Palestine.

The recent assertion that the Aboriginal flag is being co-opted for display at "anti-Jewish" rallies only serves to embolden anti-Palestinian racists against community Blackfullas.

This argument also rests on a complete identification of the Jewish people with Israel – the idea that Judaism and Israel are one in the same rather than two distinct things. This line is opposed by a growing number of anti-Zionist Jewish people and groups and in itself is antisemitic; falsely implicating all Jewish people in the crimes of the Israeli state.

The millions of people who have taken up action for Palestine across the nation speak louder than any racist campaign.

In Sydney alone, weekend rallies have seen up to 100k people mobilise to call for an end to the genocide, with Blakfulla flags waving proudly throughout the crowd. Just last month, we saw record breaking numbers turn up on Invasion Day, with thousands of mob joining our Palestinian siblings to share the stage and struggle.

Alliance and solidarity will always be louder than the words and actions of the oppressor, for the oppressor cannot comprehend how two entirely different 'others' can create such a potent relationship to undermine their power.

Ethan Lyons is a young Wiradjuri person who organises in First Nations spaces and is passionate about social and environmental justice.