Australian Jews slam Israel's policies

CANBERRA — On September 22, a group of Australian Jews released a statement
in support of the rights of Palestinians and condemning the actions of
the Israeli government in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Rick Kuhn, a senior lecturer in political science at the Australian
National University and an initiator of the statement by Jews Against Oppression
and Occupation, said that “the fundamental cause [of the conflict in Palestine]
is the dispossession of the Palestinian people and their oppression at
the hands of the Israeli state”.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be resolved unless there
is an immediate withdrawal of Israel's military forces from the West Bank
and Gaza and a total Israeli withdrawal — including all Israeli settlements
— from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem”, Kuhn said.

Award-winning journalist David Liebhold, a former Time magazine
correspondent and another initiator of the statement, pointed to the “countless
historical atrocities against Jews that were perpetrated by relatively
small groups. They were made possible by the failure of the majority to
speak up. We don't want to make the same mistake. Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and his supporters claim that if you criticise the actions
of the Israeli state, you are an anti-Semite. This is bullshit. In fact,
Sharon's actions are about oppressing and killing people. Jews with a conscience
cannot remain silent.”

View the statement at <http://www.geocities.com/jewsaoo/>.

From Green Left Weekly, October 16, 2002.

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From GLW issue 512