Australians took to the streets on October 12 in support of Palestine.
Organisers in Gadigal Country/Sydney estimated that more than 10,000 people turned up, every one of whom was dismayed the Appeals Court ruling preventing them from marching to the Opera House and worried the ruling may affect our right to peacefully protest
As the march marked the two year long genocide, perpetrated by Israel and enabled by the United States and other allies including Australia, Jews Against the Occupation ‘48 (JAO48) is painfully aware how important it is to remember that the October 7 attacks were the inevitable response to eight decades of ruthless Zionist colonisation in historic Palestine.
That single day of Palestinian armed uprising has been used to justify two years of relentless and disproportionate revenge, carried out overwhelmingly against civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Predictably, Israel and its supporters frame the genocide as “self defence” and blame Hamas for the egregious violence and mayhem perpetrated by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
But under international law, occupied people have the right to resist their occupier by whatever means necessary, including armed struggle. An occupier must not wage war on those people it occupies.
JAO48 condemns Israel’s genocide as we condemn its apartheid regime and occupation of Palestinian land. We refute Israel’s claim to act on behalf of Jewish people and insist that its brutality feeds antisemitism world wide.
We are committed to working to end the unspeakable suffering and injustice visited on the Palestinians by the Zionist settler colonial regime.
Since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) first warned of plausible genocide and ruled that all states should act to prevent it, Australia has continued to supply Israel with weapons parts, military-grade materials and intelligence. At least 10 independent human rights organisations and a United Nations Commission of Inquiry have concluded that Israel is committing genocide. Still, Australia continues its deadly business as usual.
We must stay alert to the likelihood that the Palestinians will be betrayed again, as Trump’s so-called peace plan — or rather ultimatum into submission — is being negotiated.
The initial ceasefire and influx of urgent aid will give much needed respite to the people of Gaza. Yet we must not forget that Israel has no intention of ending its occupation and annexation of historic Palestine by whatever means, including genocide and ethnic cleansing, as its aim still is to have it all.
We call on the Australian government to end its complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and racial cleansing in the West Bank.
We demand that Labor cut trade ties with Israel and enact sanctions in line with its obligations under international law.
We urge humanity to renew its resolve to work in solidarity towards true justice and peace for all peoples living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, freeing Palestine and the world from the evils of white supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism.
[Jepke Goudsmit is a member of Jews Against the Occupation ’48.]