Two years into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, part of the much longer Nakba, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network remembers all that’s been lost and reminds the Australian government of its obligation to sanction Israel for its crime of crimes in seeking the annihilation of the people of Palestine.
Israel has been found by the United Nations to be conducting a genocide in Gaza. Australia has an obligation to act, to sanction Israel until it complies with International Law by failing to do so it is complicit.
Today, two years into an active and ongoing genocide, Palestinians, and our many allies, will pause to remember the deliberate killings, the intentional harm, the deliberate starvation and the actions designed, to bring about the destruction of Palestinians.
Today, like every day for the last two years, we wake up to pictures of children’s bodies, of families being destroyed, of unspeakable and unimaginable horrors.
APAN, the Palestinian community, and its allies are mourning Palestinians being annihilated , driven out of their homes, bombed deliberately starved, injured and unable to receive medical treatment due to the ongoing Israeli government’s intentional ethnic cleansing and genocide of an indigenous people.
APAN remembers all of those who have been murdered. We remember the streets once alive with children’s laughter that now echo with silence.
We collectively remember the journalists, the poets, the engineers, and the doctors. We remember the artists, the students and the teachers, the mothers, fathers, and grandparents who have witnessed great horrors. We remember those who were killed while trying to queue up for aid trying to protect their families, and rescue workers trying everything in their limited capacities to rescue those trapped under the rubble.
Today, we remember that for the last two years, each day we have gone to work, or to school, with the knowledge that if we speak out we could be silenced, attacked or penalised.
And, we will remember the incredible power of the millions of people around the country who have stood side by side with us through this genocide, marched every weekend, conducted thousands of actions, and showed compassion and sol;idarity. Thank you.
APAN and the collective pro-Palestine community will not forget that the opposition to our movement is small, that their hold on power is tenuous, and we stand on the side of humanity. We will continue to resist, to speak out and continue our fight for Palestine to be free.
APAN continues to demand that the government sanctions Israel, to dismantle the illegal settlements, to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and to hold Israel accountable for it’s ongoing genocide.
Palestine will be free, from the river, to the sea.