What began as a powerful anti-Palestinian campaign by a few Zionist organisations and individuals turned into a victory for Adelaide Writers' Week (AWW) and the Palestinian writers who attended.
The sessions featuring the Palestinians, particularly those held in conjunction with Australian First Nations writers, were phenomenally popular; hundreds of people attended these sessions.
As Louise Adler said, “People are free to deeply object. They don’t have to come. Or come, and you don’t need to agree with what people think. But people listened. These steadfast Adelaide audiences came out in their thousands and listened with courtesy and respect for the conversation. It should be something that lifts the spirits of all of us.”
“The definition proposed for adoption by the South Australian parliament is one devised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (or IHRA). It is a flawed definition because it singles out one group of people for special treatment. This motion is specific to Israel and to Israel only. The motion moved by One Nation’s Sarah Game gives Israel a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
The motion itself determines the ways in which we might be allowed to criticise Israel without finding ourselves labelled as antisemitic.”
“…as the world commemorates International Women’s Day, 35 Palestinian women are yearning for freedom in Israeli prisons and detention centers. Amongst whom are 11 mothers, six wounded prisoners, and three administrative detainees. Palestinian women are subjected to many forms of physical and psychological ill-treatment throughout the process of their arrest leading up to their incarceration.”
"He would keep walking for another 11 months. In August 2017, the 25-year-old Swedish activist embarked on a 3,000-mile solo journey through 13 countries to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinians. Beginning in Gothenburg, Sweden, Ladraa carried a Palestinian flag and walked through Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan."
"Palestinian ambassador to the UK Dr Husam Zomlot stood on the stage next to Ahed Tamimi, the protester who became a globally known after slapping an Israeli soldier in the West Bank last year. Speaking to the crowd, he said: “I see British people from the left, from the right, from across the board. You know why? Because this is not a fight between left and right, it’s a fight between right and wrong.”"
"What lands Palestinians in Israeli prisons are acts of resistance - from writing a poem about the struggle against the occupation to carrying out an attack against Israeli soldiers in the occupied Palestinian land. For the Israeli occupation, however, every act of Palestinian resistance or defiance is either classified as a form of "terrorism" or "incitement" that cannot be tolerated."
"The conference was organised by the Palestine Return Centre (PRC) and the Palestinian Forum in Denmark, in collaboration with pro-Palestine Swedish and Danish associations. From the early hours of yesterday morning, scores of attendees from across Europe poured into the hall holding Palestinian flags, wearing the kufiyah and chanting slogans. People also sang the old Palestinian national anthem and danced traditional dabke."
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