Judith Treanor delivered this speech on behalf of Jews Against the Occupation’48 to the Palestine Action Group’s rally on August 10.
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I caught the wonderful Dr Gabor Mate on a podcast during the week. “How is it possible that children are being starved to death in full view of the world?,” he asked.
I’m sure we’re all asking the same every day.
How is it possible that we are now 22 months into a live-streamed genocide, and the world is still debating whether it is even happening?
How is it possible that Israelis and their supporters are still denying that they are starving Palestinians while we watch emaciated children wither away on our screens?
How is it possible that thousands of Palestinians, including children and medical professionals are imprisoned without charge, without trial, tortured in Israeli jails and, aside from activists like us, nobody knows and nobody cares?
They’re not the right kind of hostages.
How is it possible that Israel can still claim self-defence and not be laughed out of the United Nations? Has nobody else watched the testimony of Israeli soldier Shalom Shitrit, whose unit was inexplicably “stood down” in the early hours of October 7, 2023? Who needed the Gaza fence to be unpatrolled that morning? Who needed a pretext for genocide?
How is it possible that half of the United States Congress, during their break, just flew to Israel to pose — all smiles — with war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu?
How is it possible that Australia is now performatively talking about “recognising a Palestinian state”, while Israel’s security cabinet just approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City?
What does recognition even mean to people enduring genocide?
How is it possible that the UN sends peacekeepers into the Congo, South Sudan and a host of other war-torn nations but for Gaza no one even dares to propose it?
Why isn’t there a coalition of the willing, led by all those nations who swear they uphold the rules-based order, sailing their naval ships to the Gaza shore to break the blockade?
How is it possible that after 300,000 of us marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in a sea of solidarity, in the pouring rain that our government is still up to its neck in the two-way arms trade with Israel, never mind proposing sanctions or kicking out the ambassador.
And how is it possible that here, in this country, in Gadigal Country/Sydney, three Jewish women were threatened with arrest for standing peacefully outside a synagogue?
You may have seen us, Michelle, Suzie and me, now called “the Emanuel 3”. We were protesting then Opposition leader Peter Dutton speaking at Emanuel Synagogue, the same night the dictatorial premier Chris Minns pushed through draconian protest laws which could have landed us in jail for two years.
How is it possible that Zionism has brought us to this point of insanity?
And, in this same upside-down reality, a friend asks me repeatedly, “Why do Jewish people, who are such a tiny proportion of the population, get so much attention in this country? With an antisemitism envoy who wants to curb our right to criticise a foreign state. With a special police task force. With access to constant media coverage?”
My answer: We have been indoctrinated into being willing human shields for the Zionist project in Palestine.
And all this focus on Australian Jewry isn’t stemming antisemitism. It’s fuelling it.
Because when Jewishness is constantly framed as needing exceptional protection, while Palestinians are being erased, bombed and starved, what message do you think that sends?
How is it possible that the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), a far-right group known for spreading hatred, has faced no action against their social media posts and hate-centred events until now — Thanks to Kassem Chalabi and Birchgrove Legal, who have submitted a formal complaint of racial and religious vilification to The Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW? Let’s have a big round of applause for them!
Up until now, the AJA has got away not just with in-your-face Islamaphobia, but with antisemitism too. In January, the AJA attacked Jews Against the Occupation ’48, posting that we were “degenerates” for holding a Holocaust vigil at Sydney Town Hall.
How is it possible that Zionist Jews believe Jews have the monopoly on genocide?
Of course, the Shoah was catastrophic — a horror beyond words. It defined my identity growing up and not a day of my life has gone by where I haven’t thought about it.
But here we are, standing on stolen, unceded land, land soaked in the blood of First Nations people whose own genocide remains ongoing. And it’s easy to forget Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan and on it goes.
No one has the monopoly on suffering. But we all have a responsibility to stop it repeating.
This is not about me. It’s not about any of us Jews who come to these rallies and speak. But please know that our hearts break. They break for Palestinians, who have been brutalised by Israel for 77 years, and they break to see the heritage we were proud of, now, forever, tainted by this genocide.
I was raised as a Zionist. I was never taught the word Nakba. I never knew about the occupation.
I’m not religious now, although I was raised Orthodox. But I remember the foundations of Judaism, the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not kill.” “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house” or, in this case, their land.
How is it possible that a people who survived genocide now justify committing this crime of crimes under the banner of our survival?
Undoubtedly, some Zionists are watching this, listening, maybe scoffing. I want to say this to you directly: It is not too late. It’s not too late to walk away from this death cult. It’s not too late to atone. One day, everyone will claim they were always against this. But your time to act is right now.
We were told “Never again”. But unless it means never again for everyone, it means nothing.
Free, free Palestine! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!