Miko Peled Talks Palestine in Adelaide

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association, Adelaide Sisters Association and Islamic Society of South Australia present:

TALKING PALESTINE with Miko Peled!

Supported by By Glimmer Of Hope and Health Workers 4 Palestine

Recording of a presentation by Miko Peled at the Al Salam Community Centre in Adelaide on 12 December 2023

Miko Peled is an author, human rights activist and international speaker born and raised in Jerusalem. He is considered by many to be one of the clearest Israeli voices calling for justice in Palestine, support of the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, (BDS) and the creation of a single democracy with equal rights in all of historic Palestine. You have most likely seen Miko’s videos and interviews which have gone viral online as well as his book “The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli In Palestine”.

Go to recording on Facebook here (approx 52 mins)

AFOPA’s Mike Khizam introducing Miko Peled

At very short notice of the event, 170 people turned up to listen to Miko Peled in Adelaide on 12 December 2023

NEW ROY MORGAN POLL ON GAZA WAR

Almost half of Australians (49%) say the Australian Government should ‘not take sides’ in the current crisis in Israel & Gaza

Now 49% of Australians say the Australian Government should ‘not take sides’ in the current crisis in Israel and Gaza according to a special Roy Morgan online survey conducted in conjunction with the Islamic Society of South Australia with a cross-section of 1,006 Australians aged 18+ from Thursday November 16 – Monday November 20, 2023

FULL REPORT HERE

Key findings of the survey are:

• Nearly two-fifths (39%) of Australians say the Australian Government is ‘favouring the Israelis’ compared to only 10% who say the Australian Government is ‘favouring the Palestinians’;

• A large majority of 80% of Australians say Hamas should return the Israeli hostages unconditionally;

• A clear majority (57%) of Australians say the Australian Government should increase pressure on Israel to allow for immediate humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza;

• Two-fifths (40%) of Australians say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately while 33% say they should not and 27% don’t know;

• If the 27% of Australians saying ‘don’t know’ to this question are excluded, a majority of 55% of the remainder say the Israeli army should withdraw their armed forces from Gaza immediately – up 4% from a special Roy Morgan SMS Poll conducted in early November, compared to 45% (down 4%) that say the Israeli army should not.

FULL REPORT HERE

MEDIA RELEASE: Peak Palestinian advocacy organisations condemn allegations against visiting UN human rights expert

20 November 2023

The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) and the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) condemn the statement circulated by the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) in response to the National Press Club address by the visiting UN Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese. The UN Human Rights Council appointed Ms Albanese to this function in April 2022 for a six-year term.

The 15 November statement by AIJAC’s Executive Director, Colin Rubenstein, is “clearly defamatory of Ms Albanese and must be challenged,” says AFOPA Chairperson Ms Christa Christaki.

AFOPA and APAN reject the outrageous assertions against Ms Albanese, including that ‘she is a liar’, and that everything she said at the National Press Club on 14 November consisted of ‘absolute falsehoods’.

This egregious attack on a highly respected human rights lawyer and well published scholar, and now Special Rapporteur of the United Nations, seriously misrepresents and distorts key arguments made by Ms Albanese in her Press Club presentation.

To claim that Ms Albanese ‘repeatedly justified terrorism against Israeli civilians while arguing Israel has no right to self-defence against Palestinian violence’ is an extraordinary distortion of her argument which is easily disproved by looking at the video of the Press Club event.

Firstly, Ms Albanese has never justified terrorism and this serious allegation should be retracted immediately.

Secondly, in relation to Israel’s claim to the right to self-defence, Ms. Albanese referred to international law as reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice saying that self-defence - the right to use military force, and therefore the right to wage a war - cannot be invoked against threats emanating from the territory which the state, in this case Israel, occupies. International humanitarian law recognises that Israel has the right to protect itself and its citizens through law enforcement measures to restore law and order and pursue accountability.

Ms Albanese stands by her claim that Israel is an apartheid state, and notes that in doing so she is supported by the findings of her predecessor, Professor Michael Lynk, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem and others. Amnesty’s report, published in February 2022, extends to 280 pages of documented evidence.

In August 2023, over 2,800 academics, clergy and other public figures, mostly from Israel denounced the “apartheid system in the occupied Palestinian territory as the “elephant in the room”. Instead of accusing the UN Special Rapporteur, it would be more honest to engage with the substance of her claims.

Ms Albanese did not call for the “dismantling and the complete removal of Israel.“ She simply noted the need for the end of the apartheid practices by the State of Israel, which could be done by a constitution establishing the equality of all citizens inside Israel and the end of the settler-colonial occupation of the 1967 Palestinian territory, as preconditions to any political solution.

The suggestion in AIJAC’s statement that Gaza has been ‘exclusively under Palestinian and Hamas control over the last 16 years’ is specious. As Ms Albanese has amply clarified, Gaza remains occupied as defined by Article 42 of the Hague Regulations of 1907.

In fact, Israel retains effective control over Gaza’s airspace and territorial sea; with the exception of Gaza’s border with Egypt, Israel has unilaterally declared (not internationally recognised) ‘borders’, the so-called Access Restricted Areas (ARAs) on the land near the Green Line (‘exclusion zone’, ‘no-go zone’, or ‘buffer zone’). Israel also controls Gaza’s monetary system (based on the Israeli currency), customs, and construction industry (requiring Israel’s approval).

Israel also maintains the Palestinian population registry in the Gaza Strip, collects Palestinian taxes, and controls access in and out of Gaza, including any goods entering or exiting the Strip, such as food items and medical supplies. Israel also retains the right to carry out ‘preventive strikes’ within Gaza. The full blockade enforced in 2007 has only tightened Israel’s control. There can be no doubt that Israel has totally restricted the freedoms of residents and controlled all entry and exit of goods and services into Gaza over that period.

The suggestion that Ms Albanese is an anti-Semite, or spouts anti-Semitic tropes is slanderous and completely rejected. Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic. Her lifelong efforts for human rights and justice have been endorsed by numerous members of the global Jewish community, both overseas and in Israel. As Professor Avi Shlaim remarked, "The three main pillars of Judaism are truth, justice, and peace. Ms. Albanese personifies these values to a remarkably high degree. And there will be many Jews worldwide, disturbed by Israel's departure from these core Jewish values, who may have reason to thank her for upholding them.”

Many other prominent Jewish scholars have vehemently defended the Special Rapporteur against these unfounded accusations.

AFOPA understands that the overall thrust of AIJAC’s statement is to discredit Ms Albanese and her integrity and to cast doubt on her ability to fulfill her UN role as a Special Rapporteur.

AFOPA and APAN will recommend Ms Albanese seek legal advice to protect herself from this manifest and grave incidence of defamation as soon as possible.

Contact: Christa Christaki, Chairperson, AFOPA Ph: 0401 121 877

Further Information: AFOPA sponsored Ms Albanese’s visit to Australia to deliver the 2023 Edward Said Lecture in Adelaide. APAN, Free Palestine Melbourne and Palestinian Christians in Australia supported her visit to Victoria, ACT and NSW

PDF available here

AFOPA notes that as at 21 November 2023, the offensive statement made by AIJAC about Ms Albanese was no longer available on their website.

Statement by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association on the catastrophe in Gaza

AFOPA calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to end the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Israel’s brutal attack. This attack on Gaza is the 7th in 17 years.

We call for immediate and appropriate levels of aid to the people of Gaza.

This latest attack on Gaza is a result of Israel’s repeated refusal to fulfill its commitments under the Oslo Accords of 1993 to withdraw from the Palestinian areas and allow the establishment of a Palestinian State. We reject that a military solution will end the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel’s destruction of Gaza and the mass killing of Palestinian civilians will not bring peace. Palestinian resistance will remain so long as Israeli oppression remains. The occupation must end. The siege on Gaza must end. Israel’s system of apartheid must end. The scale of the barbaric killing in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks cannot be justified as “self-defence” any longer.

We reject the notion that Palestinian resistance to Israel is based on antisemitism rather than the real, observable, and documented cruelties and crimes of the Israeli occupation now 56 years old. We condemn the governments of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and other Western powers who now stand by Israel effectively giving it a blank cheque to do whatever it wants in response to the killing of Israeli citizens by Hamas, which we also condemn. 

We condemn these governments for protecting and enabling Israel, allowing it to keep building illegal settlements on Palestinian land and operate an apartheid state with impunity. The choice for Palestinians today and in the future is to continue to live under the yoke of a brutal occupation, a system of apartheid, or expulsion from their homelands. We reiterate our support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which for nearly 20 years has offered a non-violent path towards justice for the Palestinians. BDS is now more important than ever.

We want our leaders to acknowledge in the strongest terms that the killing of Israelis by Hamas on 7 October does not justify the now ceaseless slaughter of Palestinian civilians. We want our leaders to understand that opposing the mass carnage of Palestinians that is occurring in Gaza is as valid as condemning the deaths of Israelis. We want them to understand that calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza is not to condone the attack on Israel. We want them to ask Israel what it will do after Hamas is destroyed, Gaza levelled, and its people killed or expelled. Will Australia and the US call for an end to the conditions that breed the cycle of resistance, terror, and war? Will Israel dismantle its apartheid state? Will it remove its illegal settlements? Will it end the siege of Gaza? Will our leaders work constructively to achieve freedom and self-determination for the Palestinians? The colonisation of Palestine is not an ancient historical event, it is an ongoing everyday vicious reality. Israel keeps expanding illegal settlements, evicting Palestinians from their homes and killing those who resist their dispossession and life under military occupation.

The Hamas attack did not occur in a vacuum. History did not start on 7 October 2023. Unless leaders of the world deal with this conflict in its full historical and political context it will never end, and ordinary people – both Palestinian and Israeli - will continue to suffer and die.  

Since Israel commenced its brutal attack on Gaza, immense support for Palestine has arisen around the world. It is incumbent on the governments of all these peoples to act now and bring about a just and lasting peace in Palestine.

8 November 2023

PDF available here

SPEECH to the Adelaide Rally in solidarity with the Palestinian People

15 October 2023

Speech before 4000 people at the Adelaide Rally in solidarity with the Palestinian People, held on the steps of Adelaide’s Parliament House on 15 October 2023, by Imad Mahmoud, Member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association

I have 3 messages today

1st message to the media

I am Palestine, I am the Palestinian, we are all Palestinians

I am the 400 villages that were wiped off the map to create the state of Israel

I am the 750,000 people who were ethnically cleansed and never allowed to return back to create the state of Israel

I am the Palestinian

I am Jerusalem, Hiafa, Akka, Yaffa, Hebron, Nazareth, Beit Lehem, Ramallah, Jenin and Gaza

I am Gaza, I am Gaza

I am the 2.4million imprisoned by Israel for 16 years

I am the 2.4million deprived of water, electricity, and fuel

I am the 1,400 killed by Israel in 2008

I am the 2,251 killed by Israel in 2014

I am the 183 demonstrators killed, the 6,106 demonstrators injured in 2018

I am the 724 children killed in this war

I am the collective punishment, I am the successive genocides, I am the ongoing ethnic cleansing

I am the Palestinian

I am the indigenous of the holy land

I am the Palestinian, I am the indigenous of the holy land

I am the Arab, I am the Jew, I am the Christian, I am the Muslim, I am the Canaanite, I am the Bedouin, I am the pre bible, I am the bible, I am the post bible, I am the believer, I am the non-believer

I am the Palestinian, I am the indigenous of the holy land

I am Margaret, I am David, I am Nelson Mandela, I am the Mahatma Ghandhi, I am Desmond Tutu, I am Ilan Pappe, I am every free soul on this earth

I am the Palestinian

When we say free Palestine, we say free Palestine from racism.

When we say free Palestine, we say free Palestine from oppression.

When we say free Palestine, we say free Palestine from supremacy

When we say free Palestine, we say free Palestine from hatred

When we say free Palestine, we say free Palestine from the vicious settler colonial mentality.

Free Palestine, free Palestine

2nd Message not to my brothers & cousins the Jewish community who are part of this rally

2nd Message to my brothers & cousins the Jewish community who are afraid, worried and not part of this rally

My brothers and cousins the Jewish community of Australia

Your fear is our fear, your safety is our safety, your blood is our blood, our blood is your blood, make no mistake

When I see a Jewish mom crying for her loss, I feel with her. I want you to feel with the thousands of Palestinian moms that have been crying for years and years, we make no mistake

When I see a Jewish guy running from a music party, I feel with him. I want you to show how much you feel with the 80% of the Palestinians who ran from their villages, cities, farms, schools, tombs and the smell of the air and were never allowed to return back since in 1948; we make no mistake

When we see a Jewish grandma taken as a hostage, we feel with her. We have to feel with the 5,000 Palestinian prisoners and 170 Palestinian children imprisoned for years in Israeli prisons; we make no mistake

Don’t let an Apartheid state speak in your name

Don’t let a settler colonial state speak in your name. These are not the Jewish values.

Don’t listen to the racist Zionist liars’ propaganda; they said earlier that Palestine is a land without People for People without a land and they lied, make no mistake

Tell them “Never Again” “Never Again”

“Never Again” to the holocaust.

“Never Again” to the new Nazis

“Never Again” to the racist Zionist ideology

Your future is our future, your freedom is our freedom, make no mistake

3rd message to the leaders of the country

The leaders of our beloved Australia

If there was no ongoing occupation, there would be no violence and you know that

If there was no daily brutal oppression, there would be no violence and you know that

I am not talking about Ukraine, I am talking about Palestine and you know that

Values and solidarity with innocent souls should not be selective and you claim that

With the launch of a racist settler colonial project, violence has already started. Our brothers, the first nations people of the land know that, we know that, and you are yet to know that

“Let me put it crystal clear”, as Biden says. If you truly want to end the cycle of violence in that part of the world. If you really want to stand to the values that Australians stand for. If you truly want to see an Israeli Jewish kid and a Palestinian kid aspiring for a better future, you have to put an end to occupation, to dismantle the apartheid system, and encourage a true reconciliation to heal the hearts. YOU KNOW THAT. YOU KNOW THAT “full stop”.

Imad Mahmoud