
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 ābecause 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.
āWe cannot see how an ongoing war in Gaza can bring peace and security to anyone, including Israel. Fagueret said history shows āviolence only leads to more violenceā and was concerned about the global rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
She said Israel must āimplement an immediate ceasefire, negotiate for the release of the hostages and resume negotiations towards a just peace for all.Ā āPeace 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 ārepeatedly stood against [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, both on domestic policies and Gaza.
āMy 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 āmuch more assertive roleā for a ceasefire and pushing āto allow relief aid into Gazaā.
It said Israelās āunrelenting bombing of Gazaā, its ground invasion and āthe death of thousands of children and adults, means that Palestinian civilians are paying the heaviest price in Israelās war against Hamasā.
āMeanwhile, 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 āneed for a homelandā is the āunderlying causeā of the conflict, AJDS said. āThe point has been passed in this war where the number of Gazans killed is so great it overwhelms Israelās military objective. A way must be found to stop this carnage.ā
AJDS wants āan internationally supervised ceasefire and for all hostages to be releasedā.
It called on federal Labor to initiate international efforts āto revive conflict resolutionā and play a key role in āan International Peacemaking Intervention and Commission under the United Nationsā.
āThe land Palestinians dream about returning to is no moreā, it said. āThe land Israelis dream about possessing forever has turned into an immoral and unsustainable nightmare.
āThe 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 Israelās war.
āFor 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 worldās largest open-air prison.
āIsraelās ongoing siege of Gaza must end. Most young people in Gaza have never been able to leave,ā the groups said.
āGaza 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 Israelās actions.
While the Israeli government recently declared war in Gaza, its war on Palestinians started over 75 years ago and any ceasefire āmust be followed by an end to Israelās occupation of Palestinian landā.
The groups strongly criticised Laborās inaction and were āalarmed by its declaration of support for Israel, including military deploymentā.
āWe often use āNever again!ā in reference to the Holocaust. Yet these words mean nothing if we stand back and take no action in the face of Israelās attacks on Palestinians.ā