This diary takes a look at efforts in Australia to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially organizations that are directly focused on Palestinian human rights and their right to an independent sovereign nation of their own. They include both nonsectarian and Jewish organizations, as well as the work of one conciliatory Palestinian journalist. Mostly it is just to let people know what is going on in Australia and the awareness of the Australian people concerning this humanitarian cause.
I will list Palestinian rights organizations, liberal Jewish organizations that address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as those organizations that support the Israeli government.
Although they often cooperate, most of the pro-Palestinian rights groups tend to be associated with Australian cities.
Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine is located in Canberra and is an affiliate of the International Solidarity Movement (headquartered in the West Bank). They support a resolution of the conflict based on international law, UN Resolutions, and prior agreements. Essentially that means the evacuation of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and withdrawal of Israeli forces, demolition of the Apartheid Wall, respect for human rights in the region, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and the use of boycott, divestment, and sanctions until the foregoing are achieved.
http://www.ajpp.canberra.net.au/
In Adelaide, Australian Friends of Palestine is active. The Australian Friends of Palestine association is a voluntary, not for profit organization, which has as its primary object the promotion of peace in Palestine based on international law and relevant UN resolutions. A subsidiary objective is the promotion of Palestinian identity, heritage and culture to Australians.
http://www.friendsofpalestine.org.au/about.html
Melbourne has the Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network and Women for Palestine.
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The Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network was newly formed in May 2006. It is involved in a variety of grass-roots campaigns including boycotts and awareness-raising. During Israel’s invasions of Gaza and Lebanon, they were seen out on the Australian streets protesting.
http://www.melbourne-palestine.info/
Women for Palestine indicate that their organization arose out of the desperate humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people and the urgent need to alert the people of Australia to their unprecedented suffering. It is a network of Australian women who stand for nonviolence and human rights in the Holy Land. Women for Palestine are known for holding vigils in Australia in quiet protest of Palestinian injustice.
http://www.womenforpalestine.com/020403v2/index.htm
The headquarters for Australians for Palestine is located just outside of Melbourne. Australians for Palestine report that they seek to dispel myths and disinformation about Palestine in Australia by actively engaging with the media, academic institutions, Federal and State Parliaments, governmental bodies, NGOs, and the community at large. It seeks to communicate the Palestinian narrative from a historical perspective, as well as through the current political developments impacting on Palestinians wherever they are, the Middle East region and the world at large.
Australians for Palestine employs media production and distribution and public relations as a tool for promoting Palestinian social justice in Australia. In the past, they have held media events in downtown Melbourne emphasizing the Wall.
http://www.australiansforpalestine.com/
Probably the oldest Palestinian rights organization in Australia, the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, is located in Sydney.
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The Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC) was established during the build-up to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and support for the new organization was greatly strengthened by subsequent events, particularly by the massacres at Sabra and Chatilla. Since 1982, the PHRC has become the most prolific and most active campaigning organization in Australia on the issue of Palestine. They state that their aim is to build an effective campaign, organize protests, political lobbying, and raising public awareness. Through their publications (including their website), the PHRC provides a source of accurate and reliable information on the Palestine-Israel conflict and the social and political conditions within Palestine. To this end they also aim to build real contacts between Palestinian people and those who support them.
Although Jewish Australians participate in the above organizations, there are two peace groups in Australia that have specifically Jewish origins.
In Melbourne, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society is led by Sol Salbe, an immigrant from Israel with a European Jewish background. The group is reportedly made up mostly middle aged or elderly Jews with a long background of radical activism, which parallels similar groups in the US. AJDS indicates that it is the only Australian Jewish organization willing to offer public criticism of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. AJDS has also been the most consistent advocate of a Jewish universalistic agenda, that is, of Jewish involvement in broader political campaigns not specifically related to Jewish concerns such as nuclear disarmament, Aboriginal rights, and opposition to racism.
http://www.ajds.org.au/brief_history.htm
Another Jewish organization, located in Sydney, is Jews Against the Occupation (JAO). JAO was formed by academics and activists in May 2003 to give a clear Jewish voice in support of the national and human rights of Palestinians and a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
In their agenda, JAO states: “we are part of a worldwide movement among progressive Jews who are challenging increasingly conservative official Jewish community representatives in regard to Israel.
In part, the impetus behind the development of JAO has been the perception that since the 1980s that “progressive” Jews have been marginalized. The movement to the right of the organized Jewish community in all western countries with a significant Jewish population and the strengthening of connections between organized Jewish community and pro-Israel lobby has resulted in marginalizing Jews who support Palestinian rights. Efforts by the organized Jewish community to link terrorism to groups supporting Palestinians or advocating progressive views vis-à-vis Israel have occurred. The growing power of well organized and funded religious groups to take positions of power in Jewish organizations and demonize critics of Israel as anti-Semites has resulted in a situation in which the more radical criticisms of the Israeli government comes from inside Israel rather than from Diaspora Jews.
One role of JAO has therefore been to demonstrate to larger Australian community that Jews are not monolithic and that many Jews oppose the actions and behavior of the Israeli government. They challenge the claims of mainstream Jewish organizations such as Australia-Israel and the Jewish Affairs Council to speak for all Jews and refute charges of “anti-Semitism” when making criticisms of Israeli policy. As a consequence, JAO has developed personal and organizational links to Moslem community organizations and Palestinian peace groups that support a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Although information about just how many Palestinians live in Australia is unavailable, one vocal Palestinian who stands out is Maher Mughrabi, a Scottish born Palestinian journalist who works in Melbourne. Mughrabi has been active in advocating for the Palestinian rights by seeking understanding with the Jewish community. He believes that Palestinians should attempt to appreciate Jewish history and develop a sense of genuine empathy with Jewish feelings as they relate to anti-Semitism and the attachment to a Jewish state. He ultimately believes that mutual understanding is the best pathway to a just peace, where the goals of both Israeli and Palestinian peoples can be attained.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6630.shtml
Finally, the political situation in Australia is not actually different than it is in the US concerning the split between progressive Jews such as those described above, and conservative Jews, who support Israel and its right wing Zionist quest.
On the conservative or right wing pro-Israel side is the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), which states that it is committed to ensuring that Zionism and Israel remain at the core of the Jewish experience. It may be similar to the Zionist Organization of America in its focus. Set up in the late 1920’s in Melbourne by such people as Sir John Monash and Rabbi I. Brodie, as a response to the brewing Zionist fervor in Europe, the ZFA has continued throughout the years by actively promoting Aliyah, the fostering of Zionist, Jewish, and Hebrew education and culture, and the aims of Zionism. ZFA is politically active. It reports that it consults with the Australian and Israeli governments, is represented on a number of international Jewish and Zionist bodies, and is the Australian representative of the Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI) and the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
http://www.zfa.com.au/Content_Common/index.aspx?Id=07C502A5-882E-44B8-AA4F-9E3C7D55647C
The Israel Advocacy Network lists numerous other Jewish organizations that support a right wing Zionist perspective. Melbourne’s Zionist community include Hamerkaz Ha’Israeli, the Council of Orthodox Synagogues, Jewish Museum of Australia, the State Zionist Council of Victoria, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University, Limmud Oz, and other organizations that provide educational events intended to support Israel and the government’s version of Zionism.
As a final word on the political situation in Australia and the relative influence of progressive and conservative organizations on the Australian government, I quote a paragraph from Andrew Vincent, Director of the Middle East Studies Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, written a few years ago. Dr. Vincent said that he was not speaking as an apologist for Australia’s Middle East policy, but as an outside observer.
Australia’s schizophrenic fear of Asia had led it throughout its history to ally with great and powerful friends, first Britain and now the United States. It had accepted the United States agenda unquestioningly and like many countries, had increased security measures and began to profile people from the Middle East. Two years ago, Australia had taken part in the invasion of Afghanistan and one year ago it lost many of its citizens in the Bali bombing. Muslims began to be targeted in Australia and local talk radio ran hot with anti-Muslim sentiment. Some months ago, the Assistant Treasurer had visited Israel and the occupied territory and had avoided visiting President Arafat, unlike the more courageous New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. At about the same time, the then leader of the opposition Labor Party gave a speech to the Melbourne Jewish Community, which was notorious even by Australia standards. Some of the more vocal party members who wanted to debate the question of Palestine in parliament were silenced.
There were, however, many Australians that viewed the question of Palestine with deep misgivings. In October, Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies had decided to award the high profile Sydney Peace Prize to Hanan Ashrawi. A fierce campaign began to discredit Ms. Ashrawi and intimidate community leaders involved in the prize. Despite the pressure, the visit went ahead with much attendant publicity. As a result of such events, the pro-Israel lobby attracted some very unfavorable publicity, which seriously divided Australia’s Jewish community. An attack on Hanan Ashrawi was seen as an attack on free speech itself by many.
(The JAO also intervened forcefully to welcome Ashrawi to Australia and honor her for her work on behalf of peace.)
It is difficult to know which groups in Australia, progressives or conservatives, carry the majority viewpoint. As in the US, it would seem that the conservatives have the ear of the government, while a majority of the people support a just solution. In spite of being a small community of roughly 120,000, the Jewish community in Australia has made Israel a political issue. On the other hand, actions such as the recent petition signed by 120 prominent academic Australian Jews, which followed the lead of British Jews such as Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter, film-maker Mike Leigh, and comedian Stephen Fry, calling for more alternative voices to be heard in the Jewish community about the Middle East, continue.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200703/s1862776.htm
What Australia’s experience at least shows us is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an international affair and not one that is restricted to the Middle East or to the US.