Australian Jews raise their voices for a ceasefire

November 8, 2023
Issue 
Activists outside the Israeli Embassy in Canberra. Photo: @DavidShoebridge/X

Australian Jewish women are continuing to call for an immediate ceasefire in front of the Israeli Embassy.

Corinne Fagueret said on November 8 she was there ā€œbecause my heart aches for the thousands of children and their families who have been killed in Gaza, in the same way it aches for the innocent Israelis murdered and kidnapped by Hamas on 7 Octoberā€.

ā€œWe cannot see how an ongoing war in Gaza can bring peace and security to anyone, including Israel. Fagueret said history shows ā€œviolence only leads to more violenceā€ and was concerned about the global rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia.

She said Israel must ā€œimplement an immediate ceasefire, negotiate for the release of the hostages and resume negotiations towards a just peace for all.Ā ā€œPeace and justice for all is the only thing that can bring the security which Israel craves.ā€

Steph Cunio said many of those kidnapped, tortured and killed by Hamas on October 7 ā€œrepeatedly stood against [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, both on domestic policies and Gaza.

ā€œMy heart also aches for the thousands of innocent Palestinians killed and injured in this senseless war. I call for the return of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire.ā€

The (AJDS) on November 7 called for the federal government to take a ā€œmuch more assertive roleā€ for a ceasefire and pushing ā€œto allow relief aid into Gazaā€.

It said Israelā€™s ā€œunrelenting bombing of Gazaā€, its ground invasion and ā€œthe death of thousands of children and adults, means that Palestinian civilians are paying the heaviest price in Israelā€™s war against Hamasā€.

ā€œMeanwhile, settler violence on the West Bank and the harassment and arrest of Palestinian Israelis and some left-leaning Jewish activists, demonstrate that the Israeli government is continuing its far-right agenda.ā€

Palestiniansā€™ ā€œneed for a homelandā€ is the ā€œunderlying causeā€ of the conflict, AJDS said. ā€œThe point has been passed in this war where the number of Gazans killed is so great it overwhelms Israelā€™s military objective. A way must be found to stop this carnage.ā€

AJDS wants ā€œan internationally supervised ceasefire and for all hostages to be releasedā€.

It called on federal Labor to initiate international efforts ā€œto revive conflict resolutionā€ and play a key role in ā€œan International Peacemaking Intervention and Commission under the United Nationsā€.

ā€œThe land Palestinians dream about returning to is no moreā€, it said. ā€œThe land Israelis dream about possessing forever has turned into an immoral and unsustainable nightmare.

ā€œThe status quo of one state ruling another people is no longer an option. A return to negotiations between Israel and Palestine is the only viable path forward.ā€

Meanwhile, the , the Loud Jew Collective, Jews Against the Occupation and Jews Against Fascism issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire on .

They said Israel must end its occupation and Australia must end it support for Israelā€™s war.

ā€œFor the past 15 years Gaza has been under Israeli siege with an air, sea and land blockade, such that the conditions have caused it to be described as the worldā€™s largest open-air prison.

ā€œIsraelā€™s ongoing siege of Gaza must end. Most young people in Gaza have never been able to leave,ā€ the groups said.

ā€œGaza is becoming a graveyard for a population that has nowhere else to go ā€¦ The horrific violence that Hamas inflicted in Israel on October 7 does not justify Israelā€™s actions.

While the Israeli government recently declared war in Gaza, its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago and any ceasefire ā€œmust be followed by an end to Israelā€™s occupation of Palestinian landā€.

The groups strongly criticised Laborā€™s inaction and were ā€œalarmed by its declaration of support for Israel, including military deploymentā€.

ā€œWe often use ā€˜Never again!ā€™ in reference to the Holocaust. Yet these words mean nothing if we stand back and take no action in the face of Israelā€™s attacks on Palestinians.ā€

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