As Israeli bombs killed more people in Gaza overnight, this Saturday people around Australia will mark 75 years since Jewish Zionist militia began dispossessing Palestinians from their lands, a process continued today by Israeli forces.
“For 75 years Palestinians have lived with Israeli boots on our necks and guns at our heads” said Mr Nasser Mashni, President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. “75 years ago the brutal dispossession began, but it has continued, and the current Government is escalating the violence exponentially. Israeli forces have killed 22 Palestinian children just this year”.
For the last two days Israel has bombed Gaza, killing 21 people, including four children. Israeli forces have killed at least 129 Palestinians this year, the majority in the occupied West Bank, in a dramatic escalation of military attacks. Last week Khader Adnan,a political prisoner, died in an Israeli jail on a hunger strike, he had spent years imprisoned by Israel without charge.
“If Australia wants to talk of a rules based international order – then the rules must apply to Israel as much as Russia”, said Mr Mashni. “We too have been invaded, bombed and denied self-determination – just because our oppressors are Israeli, that doesn’t mean they should get away with it” he continued.
For decades globally May 15 has been marked by Palestinians as Nakba Day (Arabic: Catastrophe). In 1948 at least three quarters of the Palestinian population was displaced: 15,000 killed and over 500 villages were destroyed as Jewish Zionist militia ethnically cleansed the land for the formation of Israel..
It has been 74 years since UN Resolution 194 which enshrined the Palestinian Right to Return home, a right which has never been respected by Israel nor the International community. Since 1967 General Assembly and Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to withdraw from lands they have militarily occupied; cease building Jewish only settlements on Palestinian lands; and to respect Palestinian self-determination. However Israel has ignored these resolutions , and this year an ultra-nationalist Government has been formed where most members explicitly reject any Palestinian self-determination. Israel’s policies towards Palestinians are being increasingly described as Apartheid, including by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.
Events on the weekend will call for an end to Israeli Apartheid policies.
Events organised include protests, vigils, talks, film screenings and cultural event, links for details for events on Saturday 13 May:
For more information or for interviews, contact:
Jessica Morrison 0431 519 577