Israeli-American author and soldier-turned-human rights activist Miko Peled will make a whirlwind visit to Australia next week to speak about his work advocating for the creation of a single democratic state with equal rights for all, in historic Palestine.
Peled’s upbringing makes him an unlikely spokesperson for Palestinian justice. He was born into a prominent Zionist family – his grandfather signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence, while his father fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and was a general in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Peled himself joined Israel’s Special Forces after high school and was a military medic, but left the military in disgust at the 1982 Lebanon war.
His life as an activist began with earnest in 1997, when his niece was murdered in a Palestinian suicide attack, which his sister insisted was, itself, caused by the Israeli occupation. This led Peled to join a Palestinian/Jewish-American dialogue group and begin to support the notion of a single democratic state for Israelis and Palestinians, with equal rights for all.
Peled has labeled the Israeli government a “radical Zionist regime” and an apartheid state, and he advocates for a free, democratic Palestine from the river to the sea.
Peled’s visit will culminate in a public forum in Melbourne on Thursday 14 December hosted by Free Palestine Melbourne and the Loud Jew Collective. Miko will appear beside award-winning Gazan born playwright Samah Sabawi and educator, political analyst and community organiser Noura Mansour.
Event details:
Public forum
Thursday 14 December 2023, 6pm – 7.30pm
Building 80 Level 2 Room 7 445 Swanston Street Melbourne
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1157852?fbclid=IwAR1odAdxVPNyZzdvjoEXb6oBVCkSmxjMz3hz_KthfLTAl_Vi12G4kZjpE20
Quotes attributed to Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni:
“Miko Peled has a unique vantage point on the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and apartheid – he grew up in a staunchly Zionist family, he’s seen the inside of the Israeli military machine, he’s felt the personal devastation of the Israeli occupation, and he has stood alongside Palestinians advocating for a free, democratic Palestine for the best part of 30 years.”
“We’re privileged to have him visit to speak about what a single, democratic state with equal rights for all in historic Palestine looks like. It’s a conversation that is sorely needed, to counter the preoccupation with a two-state solution that we know the Israeli government itself will never allow to eventuate.”