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David Rovics a long time supporter of Palestine, performs in Nablus
Play his song 'Jenin'
Time in Palestine
Justice for Palestine weekend vigil
1st Saturday of the month
11:00am - 1:00pm
Old GPO - Bourke St, Melbourne City
"Justice for Palestine website is dedicated to the conviction that only through justice and equality will a true and lasting peace ever be possible in the land of Palestine."
Why is “terror expert” attacking US solidarity groups?
January 10, 2012
A concerted effort is underway in the US to silence critics of the Israeli occupation and US aid to Israel.
Discredited journalist Steven Emerson, who traded in a career with national news outlets for the his Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), is trying to entangle an American non-profit organization in a shroud of secretive conspiracy theories intent on branding it a “supporter of terrorism.”
Emerson has crowned himself the “expert” on terrorism through his production of scurrilous blog posts and videos that he tries to pass off as credible reports. Now he’s targeting the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the organization for which this writer works, and by extension, Students for Justice in Palestine.
After students convened their national SJP conference in October 2011, Emerson posted an article on his blog, calling SJP a “radical student organization” (“SJP’s ‘Dialogue’ Goes Nowhere”) The accompanying graphic shows a large iceberg labelled with SJP at the top connected to AMP, which is shown lurking under the surface with the bulk of the iceberg. Read more
Confronting intimidation, working for justice in Palestine
December 30, 2011
If we had a wish list for 2012 as Palestinians and friends of Palestine, one of the top items ought to be our hope that we can translate the dramatic shift in recent years in world public opinion into political action against Israeli policies on the ground.
We know why this has not yet materialized: the political, intellectual and cultural elites of the West cower whenever they even contemplate acting according to their own consciences as well as the wishes of their societies.
This last year was particularly illuminating for me in that respect. I encountered that timidity at every station in the many trips I took for the cause I believe in. And these personal experiences were accentuated by the more general examples of how governments and institutions caved in under intimidation from Israel and pro-Zionist Jewish organizations. Read more
Solidarity with Palestinian Freedom Riders
November 17, 2011
On November 15th, Palestinian activists boarded segregated Israeli settler public transport headed to occupied East Jerusalem in an historic act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. The six Freedom Riders — Fadi Quran, Nadeem Al-Sharbate, Badee Dwak, Huwaida Arraf, Basel Al-Araj and Mazin Qumsiyeh — chose to board a bus that serves Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank on it’s way to Occupied East Jerusalem, wearing kuffiyehs (Palestinian scarfs) and t-shirts reading ‘Justice’, ‘Freedom’, and ‘We Shall Overcome’.
They took this bold action to expose the racism and policies of segregation that pervade every aspect of life in occupied Palestine. To send the message to the world that separate is not equal. Not in the United States and not in Israel or Palestine. They also wanted to bring attention to the role of Israeli and international companies, such as Egged and Veolia, who operate these segreated bus lines, in perpetuating and profiting from the occupation.
Chavez meets Abbas, calls for Palestinian state
October 15, 2011
CARACAS, Venezuela (Ma’an) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday welcomed his counterpart Mahmoud Abbas in the capital.
Chavez has long championed the Palestinian cause and has hosted Abbas on previous occasions.
Before meeting Abbas at the presidential palace in Caracas, Chavez reiterated his support for a Palestinian state.
Chavez said the Palestinians “have gone 63 years enduring abuses, invasions, bombardments, aggressions and UN resolutions” against them.
“I invite the entire Venezuelan people to support the cause of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Chavez said he hoped to establish a joint Palestinian-Venezuelan committee headed by the foreign minister that would be responsible for agriculture and trade cooperation. Read more
Vote now to bring Palestine into UN
October 5, 2011
Ali Kazak October 4, 2011
Opinion
Israel and its influential lobby are pushing hard for the government to vote against Palestine’s membership, but the government has a duty to put Australia’s national interests, its international standing, values and commitments, above its own narrow party interests and that of Israel’s.
Australia should do the right thing and be on the right side of history, not appease the extreme-right Israeli government and its lobby.
Australian support of Palestinian membership will reflect the moral values Australia upholds, serve its standing in the international community and give credibility to the role it is working hard to achieve internationally. It is also a golden opportunity to correct its biased Middle East policy since the creation of Israel in Palestine in 1948. Read more
It’s now time for the West to recognise Palestinian statehood
October 4, 2011
Malcolm Fraser
Opinion
The current negative approach is damaging and can’t be justified.
THE arguments against recognition of a Palestinian state seem to rest on the simple proposition that agreement must be reached through negotiation and that a resolution granting statehood would set that process back.
If that argument was valid it would have been true in 1948 when the United Nations recognised Israel as an independent state. People should then have argued the Israelis must negotiate with the Palestinians, the people who were being pushed out, and once they had come to an agreement, we could recognise Israel.
If the argument is so thin, why are some Western powers so strongly against recognition of a Palestinian state? I suggest it is because of the lock that Israel has over the policies of too many Western countries. There is an Israeli lobby that governments are not prepared to offend.
There have been two major stumbling blocks to peace. The first is the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the daily diminution of what might become Palestine. President Barack Obama, to his credit, tried to get Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the expansions. He did not succeed. If other Western countries had supported President Obama at the time, that result may have been better. Read more