Scholars Unite: Urgent Call for University Action on Gaza

We are a group of concerned academics

who have co-ordinated an open letter, co-signed by 100 members of the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and Flinders University. In the letter (see below) we have outlined the Israeli-Government led scholasticide and plausible genocide, as ruled by the International Court of Justice, taking place in Palestine. This letter was emailed to the Chancellors and Vice Chancellors of all three universities today.

We have called upon our universities to take immediate action and today have also launched our letter on Change.org inviting academics and the wider community to lend their support.

Al Jazeera: How Israel has destroyed Gaza’s schools and universities

Open letter to South Australian Universities:

Scholars Unite: Urgent Call for University Action on Gaza

Adelaide, South Australia – Monday 26th February 2024

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches dire proportions, scholars from the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and Flinders University unite in a powerful call to action. With 36,671 lives lost or missing, including a staggering 60% women and children, and countless more injured, we cannot stand idly by.

The Scholars Against the War on Palestine (SAWP) campaign has brought to light the harrowing extent of scholasticide ravaging Gaza. Israel's relentless onslaught, sparing no educational institution, has exacted a devastating toll. With each strike, Gaza's intellectual fabric is torn apart, resulting in the tragic loss of 231 educators, 95 University Professors and scientists, and 4,237 students.

Israel's targeted destruction of key educational institutions, including the University College of Applied Sciences and Technology on October 19th, Al-Azhar University on November 6th, Al-Quds Open University on November 15th, and Gaza University on December 4th, 2023, have left an indelible mark of destruction. This relentless campaign of destruction culminated in the heart-wrenching obliteration of Gaza's final bastion of higher learning, Al-Israa University, on January 17th, 2024. Throughout this period of relentless violence, 90% of schools and 60% of libraries have been laid to waste, further exacerbating the educational crisis gripping Gaza.

Moreover, over 80% of those facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide are in Gaza. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides critical aid to two million Palestinians, yet essential funding has been halted based on unevidenced allegations from the Israeli government.

In a groundbreaking verdict rendered on January 26th, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has unequivocally asserted that Israel, alongside all 153 state parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention, must urgently implement measures to facilitate the provision of essential services and humanitarian aid. These actions are imperative to alleviate the dire living conditions endured by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Australia's unwarranted suspension of UNRWA funding, devoid of substantiated evidence, undermines the integrity of this historic ruling. By perpetuating this freeze, Australia risks complicity in the perpetuation of genocide.

Four Norwegian universities have suspended ties with Israeli universities. In October 2023, RMIT terminated its relationship with Elbit and its subsidiaries.

In response to this urgent crisis, we call upon our universities to also take immediate action:

1. Terminate all partnerships with Israeli academic institutions involved in scholasticide.

2. Affirm solidarity with the ICJ ruling, demanding Israel prevent acts falling within the Genocide Convention.

3. Cease all collaborative activities with Israeli partners contributing to genocidal acts until the ICJ case is resolved.

4. Endorse the Australian government's plea for an immediate ceasefire.

5. Advocate for the urgent reinstatement of UNRWA funding.

6. Demand the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza and Israeli prisons.

7. Implement measures to support affected students and staff.

Our universities must lead by example and endorse these critical actions. As academics, educators and researchers, we have a moral obligation to speak out against injustice. We must protect educational institutions and the individuals within them. The world is watching. We must act urgently to uphold justice, human rights, and the rule of law.

The wider community have the opportunity to support this Urgent Call for University Action on Gaza.

See the letter with 100 ACADEMICS’ signatures

Media Contacts:

Professor Mohamad Abdalla AM

Director: Centre for Islamic Thought and Education

University of South Australia

P +61 8 8302 4575

E mohamad.abdalla@unisa.edu.au

Dr Sanam Mustafa

School of Biomedicine

University of Adelaide

P +61 8 8313 4101

E Sanam.mustafa@adelaide.edu.au

Associate Professor Alice Gorman

College of Arts, Humani?es and Social Sciences

Flinders University

P +61 428 450 418

E alice.gorman@flinders.edu.au

Dunstan By-Election Saturday 23 March 2024 - AFOPA Backs Greens Candidate

Help stop the genocide in Gaza - vote Greens in Dunstan By-Election

 
AFOPA is not affiliated with any political party and has not previously endorsed a party or candidates in state or federal elections. The Dunstan by-election will be different and here is why.
 
Never in recent history have we witnessed on our TV screens genocide on the scale and severity of what is happening in Gaza. In just 20 weeks there have been 30,000 Palestinian civilian deaths and 70,0000 people injured and maimed. Children are having limbs amputated without anaesthetic and women are giving birth alone, without medical assistance, amongst the rubble. Millions of people are fleeing for their lives, many over and over again, as so-called safe zones become the next killing ground. Entire cities have been levelled to the ground.
 
We demand that the Australian Government takes immediate action to call for an unconditional ceasefire, reverses its decision to pause funding to the UNRWA, facilitates access to unfettered aid for Gaza, stops its military exports to the apartheid regime of Israel and ceases all cooperation with this regime.
 
Despite the highest court in the world ordering that Israel is legally bound to act to prevent genocide, the slaughter continues. While this is happening the Labor and Liberal party leadership, both state and federal, continue to show a level of political inertia and inhumanity that is beyond belief.
 
In contrast the Greens have consistently been on the side of justice for Palestinians. This is summarised in an ‘I’m Voting for Palestine’ table that compares Greens, Labor and Liberals, and in the Greens Demand a Ceasefire Now campaign.
 
In addition, AFOPA has written to all three candidates (Liberal, Labor and Greens) asking the same set of questions of each. To date we have received only one reply (click here or see below). This is from the Greens candidate, Katie McCusker. Ms McCusker’s responses to all questions are consistent with AFOPA’s position and demonstrate unwavering support for Palestine. We will provide you the Liberal and Labor candidates responses if and when received.
 
AFOPA believes that it is time to send a wakeup call to the major parties. We are asking you to help create a substantial swing in Dunstan to the party supporting Palestine. The major parties must learn that their inaction and complicity when confronted with daily atrocities committed against Palestinians by apartheid Israel will seriously hurt them at the ballot box.
 
Here is how you can help:

• If you live in the Dunstan electorate vote for Greens SA candidate Katie McCusker and talk with your family, friends and neighbours about doing likewise.

• Whether a constituent of Dunstan or not you can support Katie by volunteering to do such things as leafletting. Please call Alice at Greens SA on 8212 4888 if you’d like to help.

• You can check for upcoming Greens events in the lead up to the by-election at https://greens.org.au/events/sa where you will find links to actions such as ‘Dunstan Letterbox Blitz’.

 In solidarity with the people of Palestine at this incomprehensible time.
 
Christa Christaki
Chairperson
Australian Friends of Palestine Association
 
24 February 2024

_________________________________________________

The following IS Green’s candidate Katie McCusker’s responses to questions AFOPA sent to all candidates in the Dunstan by-election

Please find my responses to your questions as follows:  

1. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza

The Greens have consistently called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and will continue to do so. I will continue to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.  

2. An immediate restoration of aid to UNRWA

The UNRWA has been one of the most critical organisations who supply aid to people in Gaza, run refugee camps and ensure people can eat. It is deeply distressing and reckless that Australia is suspending funding to the UNRWA on the basis on an allegation without evidence from the Israeli government. I support an immediate restoration and an increase of aid to UNRWA.  

3. Self-determination and statehood for the Palestinian people

I support freedom and statehood for the Palestinian people, as well as their right to self-determination.  

4. An end to the illegal Israeli military occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories, including the 17- year blockade of Gaza

The Greens recognise that the state of Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories and dispossessed the Palestinian people. The expropriation of Palestinian land, water, airspace, and resources is illegal and must be opposed. It is our goal to remove the Israeli settlers and Israeli security and military forces from all the Palestinian territories, including the land and sea blockade of Gaza.  

5. The provision of military arms (or components) to Israel by the Australian government and Australian businesses

In November last year, the Greens marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People by taking two actions in the Parliament. First, by tabling a petition supported by over 35,000 members of the public calling on the Albanese Government to stop fuelling violence by exporting military equipment to Israel, and second calling for a permanent ceasefire to stop the killing of civilians. In December last year, documents obtained by Greens Senator David Shoebridge revealed how the Future Fund has invested more than $600 million in public funds in global weapons companies, including an investment of nearly half a million dollars into the Israel-based Elbit Systems despite the Future Fund being banned from doing so. The Greens are pushing the Australian Government to work towards a UN-supervised removal of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, from all states in the region. I, along with all Greens, will continue to flight to stop investment in or provision of arms in the region.  

6. The recent ruling by the International Court of Justice that it is plausible that the Israeli government and military is perpetrating genocide on the Palestinian people in Gaza

The Greens are calling on the Australian Government to support the International Court of Justice to fully and quickly investigate the sustained attacks on Palestinians. The Labor Government must also commit to backing any actions that arise from the ICJ’s decision. The collective punishment and displacement of civilians through the use of indiscriminate bombing, the deliberate blockage of food, water and other essential supplies amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. In short, nothing can justify the violence we have seen and the Greens will continue to call on governments at all levels to support a permanent ceasefire, an end to the ongoing siege of Gaza and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

KATIE MCCUSKER

Candidate for Dunstan

The Greens SA

0421 829 458

ICJ Genocide Ruling - Australia's response?

Write to the Australian Government & your federal MP

From homepage of the ICJ: “The International Court of Justice, which has its seat in The Hague,
is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations”

On 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice in The Hague gave its ruling on the case brought by South Africa against Israel, under the 1948 Genocide Convention in relation to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza since 7 October 2023.

A Mondoweiss article by David Kattenburg, "ICJ orders Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza and punish calls for incitement”, describes the delivery of the Ruling by ICJ President, Joan Donoghue thus:

Speaking on behalf of the World Court’s 17 justices, two of them ad hoc (from South Africa and Israel), President Joan Donoghue delivered the court’s response to South Africa’s application against Israel under the 1948 Genocide Convention and its request for an urgent injunction – ‘provisional measures,’ in legal jargon, against Israel.

Donoghue delivered a withering summary of the situation Gaza’s 2.3 million people face after sixteen weeks of unrelenting Israeli violence, featuring acts plausibly defined as genocidal under Article II of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Israel, Judge Donoghue announced, must:

1. take all measures to ensure that acts deemed genocidal under the Genocide Convention do not take place in Gaza; 

2. ensure that its military does not commit genocidal acts; 

3. prevent and punish genocide incitement and rhetoric; 

4. enable and facilitate the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza; 

5. prevent destruction and preserve evidence of genocide in its military operations, and 

6. report to the court within one month, informing the court of its compliance with today’s preliminary measures order, and in response to South Africa’s genocide complaint.

AFOPA agrees with the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) that Australia, as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, has a duty to prevent genocide in Gaza and act to implement the ICJ ruling. We agree the Australian Government must issue a public statement welcoming this decision and reminding Israel it has a duty and obligation to comply with the ruling. The Australian Government should repudiate any statements from Israeli leaders which dismiss the Court and its ruling, as statements that are an affront to the Court, and the international rules-based system.

AFOPA notes the responses of Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, as reported in The Guardian on 27 January, to the effect that Australia has very little to say on the matter. This is in contrast to the Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, who has said the ruling obligates the Australian and international governments to act. He is quoted in the above Guardian article as saying, “The implications of the ICJ’s landmark ruling are clear: the invasion of Gaza must stop, the occupation of Palestine must end and the serious risk of genocide must be prevented. Labor must stop backing the invasion and pressure the Israeli government to end the invasion and end the occupation.”

The Australian Government’s response must go beyond words. Australian opinion polls have shown that this government is completely out of step with public sentiment, not just towards a ceasefire in Gaza, but regarding support for the Palestinian people and their right to self determination and a state.

As stated by the ACIJ in their media release of 27 January, AFOPA requests the following from the Australian Government:

• immediately review its economic ties to Israel and impose targeted sanctions

• all defense industry partnerships must be suspended and a two way arms embargo imposed. This means the government must halt any export of arms and arms components to Israel, including exports being diverted through other countries

• The Australian government should ensure that any of its citizens serving with the Israeli military are investigated in Australia for any commission of international crimes.

• The Australian government must also support the investigation at the International Criminal Court and call on the Office of the Prosecutor to advance its investigation and swiftly and without delay issue arrest warrants for the case files before the ICC since 2014.

Please write to our Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and your local federal MP and put these demands to them. A letter/email in your own words is better than a template. See if you can get a meeting with your federal MP to discuss this matter; AFOPA may be able to organise someone to go with you. Ask us by emailing secretary@afopa.com.au

If you would rather use a template letter, you can use this one drafted by AFOPA.

Write to:

• Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister: Contact form

• Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: senator.wong@aph.gov.au

• Hon Richard Marles MP, Minister for Defence: richard.marles.mp@aph.gov.au

• Your federal MP (see Parliament of Australia: Senators and Members)

Free Palestine!

LETTER on Gaza to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

If you are a trainee or fellow of the RACGP

please endorse this letter to the Board. YOu can add your name and position by contacting Firoza at kfiroza@yahoo.com

Dear President and Board of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

We write to you as deeply concerned fellows and trainees of the college. We believe that our college, representing both adult and paediatric medicine, has not upheld medical ethics in the response to the situation in Gaza. We believe that the response, including statements (and lack thereof), support to members and mobilisation for aid has been insufficient. We look to the example of the British Medical Association, who have developed a detailed position statement on the Gaza crisis; and strongly encourage you to follow their lead (statement is attached).

The pillars of medical ethics are beneficence ‘do good’, non maleficence ‘do no harm’, autonomy and justice, which includes medical neutrality. Our Australian medical colleges have a responsibility to both their members and the wider community to be guided by these principles. Whilst our reach and scope is global, it is imperative to remember that all conflicts will also directly involve descendants, immigrants and refugees, thus a local response is also required. Our expectation of the RACGP is for a comprehensive statement on the most devastating conflict thus far in the 21st century. Indeed, Gaza has been called a ‘graveyard for children’ with an estimated 12,000+ killed. 10,000 have lost limbs, 25,000 have lost parents and all 1 million plus have suffered severe psychological trauma. It is unsatisfactory that our College of Paediatrics has not acknowledged this immense suffering. A further 15,000 adults have been killed directly by weaponry, with thousands more now starving, and dying of infectious and chronic disease due to lack of access to their medicines and treatments such as dialysis. Again, it is unsatisfactory that our college does not acknowledge this unnecessary morbidity and mortality.

Whilst acknowledging the current state of events, we also expect the RACGP to support a position that would lead to an end to the violence, displacement and human suffering. This would include supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the free flow of aid into Gaza, and a humanitarian corridor. Adherence to international humanitarian law is also vital. The ongoing targeting of healthcare facilities, in addition to the kidnapping and killing of healthcare workers should be condemned.

We expect adequate support for members. Our RACGP members who are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims or at a humane level are deeply distressed by the violence and destruction. Members who have fundraised for medical charities, who have shared information on events in Palestine, who have attended vigils and rallies for peace, have been harassed and bullied relentlessly online and in their workplaces. They have feared for their reputation and their jobs. They have not had any acknowledgment of this from the RACGP , nor have they had any specific support or solidarity offered. When doctors work to uphold medical ethics, it is expected that their colleges would stand alongside them.

Finally, as a College representing more than 40,000 medical professionals, we should be working to relieve the human suffering in Gaza with our skills and expertise. There are many ways that our college could assist in coordinating a response - telehealth, advice on antimicrobial resistance, working to get medicines into Gaza, lobbying our government to provide aid and assistance in the face of a destroyed healthcare system. Whilst we work within Australia and New Zealand Aotearoa, medical ethics dictates justice, and that all humans deserve adequate and accessible healthcare.

Multiple statements and articles were released on the Ukraine conflict by the College. (News GP and X) You spoke to the issue of some Ukrainian refugees being denied Medicare. You rightfully acknowledged the suffering of the Ukrainian people. It is concerning that the board has thus far declined to release a similar statement for the people of Gaza, a conflict with a far greater amount of child deaths, deaths of healthcare workers, and destruction of healthcare facilities. Adhering to medical neutrality is vital for our healthcare institutions.

To reiterate, we request a statement of acknowledgement of the conflict in Gaza including a call for a ceasefire, free flow of aid and protection of healthcare workers and facilities. We also request a show of support for members affected by the conflict; and leadership in directing Australian and NZ doctors in aiding the people in Gaza.

Yours Sincerely

Protest Ziggy Marley at WOMADelaide 2024

Ziggy Marley: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Renowned Reggae artist, Ziggy Marley, is headlining WOMADelaide 2024

At first glance this seems quite appropriate as his musical message focuses on freedom, peace and love.

Appropriate until you realise that Ziggy Marley in 2018, attended a spectacular fund raiser in Los Angeles for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

He helped raise $US60 million for a military whose main role has been to deny every freedom to the Palestinians and enforce a brutal military occupation. Palestinians, including children are kept in administrative detention, a medieval siege has been enforced on the trapped people of Gaza, and the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank are controlled through 565 roadblocks and checkpoints.

AFOPA strongly protests the presence of Ziggy Marley at one of our most loved cultural events, whose aim is to promote equality and harmony.

If you are as appalled as we are please take action:

1. Sign this petition: Womad, Cancel Ziggy Marley's 2024 appearance

2. Attend the protests to be held outside the main entry to WOMAD, on Plane Tree Drive and Hackney Road on Friday 8 March and Saturday 9 March. If we have sufficient numbers we will also have a group at the Frome Road entrance. Times to be notified. Placards, banners and leaflets will be provided.

3. If you have tickets for WOMADelaide please wear your keffiyeh, attend Ziggy’s concerts and turn your back on him. Details of the days and timing of his concerts have yet to be released.  More information to come.

From Visualizing Palestine