As fully paid members of Middle Australia, my partner and I had a clear middle row view on Sunday’s March for Humanity.

It was an occasion full of every type of humanity. Young, old, black and white, trade unionists and capitalists, polo players and rugby leaguers, Catholics and Jews. They came from the northern beaches, eastern suburbs, the shire, the west. Some holding flags, some holding megaphones, most holding an umbrella. Humane people coming together to express their dismay and bewilderment at what we felt was an allied civilised country that has become frankly, unhinged.

It was not a festive occasion, the subject matter is far too grave for that, but there was respect, camaraderie, decency, integrity and downright goodness everywhere.

Outside of the march, the working of our system was fascinating to observe and not nearly as pleasant an experience as those in the march.

Our head NSW politician was clearly out of touch with the vibe of the city. His strident desire for the harbour bridge protest to not go ahead was naked in applying political pressure on the courts before any judgment was made. He carried on his exhortations long afterwards as well. The Opposition was even one further step out of touch, calling on the government to consider legislation to stop the bridge being used for future protests. Sadly, the premier hasn’t ruled out the idea. Apart from an impressive few, our political class was against the protest, the class that represents us, the views of the people.

Our police force was also against the protest and were still whinging after the protest had finished. Crowd control is one of their basic functions, something they should train and be prepared for. They had a week to get a plan together, if they were relying on a court judgment to go their way, then that was almost unconscionable. For one who was in the middle of the march, they created a schemozzle. The PA blaring from the noisy helicopter was completely unintelligible, while the geo-located texts were, let’s just say, confusing. They were lucky there was an enlightened communicative crowd, one that deserved better policing.

Afterwards, rather than humbling up a mea culpa and saying, we’ll try to do better next time, they said this: “It was a success in that no-one was hurt… but gee whizz I wouldn’t like to do this every Sunday at that short notice (a pointed barb to the courts)… there’s a reason why we need time to plan, going forward in the future, that has to be taken into consideration” (again a pointed barb). The benchmark that no-one got hurt is distinctly underwhelming. Frankly, just be better prepared. And please note that no protest group knows how many people are going to turn up. Like our politicians, the police also seemed out of touch with the feeling out there. As an aside, I personally feel they turned us around as a fuck you to the courts, though other conspiracy theories stretch to the concern for a more targeted protest being directed at the US Consulate at North Sydney’s Miller Street and the global optics that might bring.

Thankfully the court held firm, despite the pressure from the politicians and the police both before and after the fact. They had read the room correctly and determined the protest could proceed. In the current global climate, it is pleasing to see the rule of law being applied, and that a non-biased judgment could be made in such conditions. Perhaps not so pleasing is some of the aforementioned institutional behaviour in trying to influence this and future decisions.

As for the press, well, read the letters and comments to get a truer reflection of how people are thinking about the protest and the various Israeli occupations and behaviours.

Only the judge seemed to get that for a free society to work this kind of event is vital. It’s a pressure release, at a minimum. It’s a shout that needs to be heard, hopefully. And some form of action to be taken, in my dreams.

You can read the judgment at austlii.edu.au NSW Supreme Court , Commissioner of Police vs Joshua Lees.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.