The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) have today launched a crucial report, “Observations of Anti-Palestinian and Anti-Muslim Racism: November 2023 to March 2024.”
This vital new study explores comments and posts shared within a large Australian Zionist/pro-Israel Facebook group, demonstrating an alarming pattern of racist, hateful and dehumanising conduct and commentary directed at Palestinians, Muslims and their allies.
The report shows that the problem is top-down, with a connection between the group’s rhetoric and leadership from the top, including the new Antisemitism Envoy.
The report also exposes the weaponisation of anti-Semitism by pro-Israel activists to suppress Palestinian voices and their allies. It highlights a convergence of online and offline extremist activities aimed at silencing and excluding pro-Palestinian voices and self-expression.
The ease with which these activities were expressed without challenge within the group suggests a disturbing tolerance or ambivalence towards anti-Palestinian racism and discrimination.
According to the report, anti-Palestinian racism is a specific form of anti-Arab racism involving actions that silence, exclude, erase, stereotype, defame, or dehumanise Palestinians and their narratives. It includes Nakba denial, the justification of violence against Palestinians, the dismissal of Palestinians’ Indigenous rights and dignity, the exclusion of Palestinian perspectives, and the defamation of Palestinians and their allies.
The report, disseminated following consultation with anti-racism partners in the Jewish community, identifies key actions for policymakers, organisations, communities and individuals to take to challenge anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim racism, including:
- Promoting equal worth and dignity of all people, and universal protections for all groups – not separate standards of racism that discriminate against others.
- Encouraging confidence to challenge racism and dehumanisation.
- Creating safe space for discussions about how words are heard and experienced within a human rights framework.
To read the report visit www.apan.org.au/reports/
Quotes attributed to APAN President Nasser Mashni:
Anti-Palestinian racism isn’t just another form of prejudice, nor can it be subsumed under the banner of Islamophobia; it’s a deep-seated, systematic effort to silence, exclude, demonise and dehumanise Palestinians and those showing solidarity with them.
This report exposes the harsh reality of how this racism plays out in Australia – through hateful statements denying the Nakba, via justifications of Israeli violence against Palestinians, and the erasure of Palestinian rights as Indigenous people with a collective connection to their homeland.
Anti-Palestinian racism is a relentless assault on Palestinians’ rights, dignity and humanity, and it must be urgently and compassionately challenged by all members of our community – from elected representatives to individuals – to ensure equal respect and dignity for all.
Quotes attributed to AMAN spokesperson, Rita Jabri Markwell:
To assert that Palestinians are human beings with the right to exist and be treated with dignity, like everyone else, is a legal fact. It is neither hateful nor antisemitic.
Denying people’s equal worth and dignity before the law based on their race, religion or nationality is racist, and yet this report documents the role of this envoy, other Zionist organisations and local community activists in driving that racism.