| Yesterday, on the 7th of October, Palestinians held captive for the past 16 years in Gaza, in what former British Prime Minister David Cameron described as “the world’s largest open air prison” have broken through the walls that have kept them isolated from the rest of the world for a generation. Despite Israeli state and settler attacks against Palestinians escalating since the election of the current Israeli government, Israeli colonial violence has been a constant to Palestinians since the Nakba and the creation of the state of Israel. “Occupation is violence. Israel hasn’t been defending itself, it’s been waging war on Palestinians, each and every day for decades” said Nasser Mashni, President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. Recently, Netanyahu arrogantly delivered a delusional speech at the UN, showing a new map of the Middle East centered around Israel, absent any mention of Palestine. The response from the Palestinians came yesterday crushing Netanyahu’s and Israel’s expansionist aspirations. “The events of this week are a clear result of Israeli escalation – Israeli forces, including rampaging settlers, have killed Palestinians each and every day this year, just this week Israelis have invaded the most holy sites in Jerusalem; mobs of settlers have attacked Palestinian towns killing Palestinians while Israeli soldiers watch on. And this is on top of a 16 year illegal and inhumane siege on Gaza and 75 years of denial of Palestinian freedom, right of return and self determination” added Nasser Mashni. Western leaders from Biden, Sunak, Trudeau to our own Prime Minister, have provided a textbook response as they rushed to affirm their support for “Israel’s right to defend itself”, ignoring all of the injustices perpetrated against the Palestinians, for the last week, the last year and the last 75 years. The glaring hypocrisy and double standard applied by the Western media and politicians who celebrate the heroism of the Ukrainian resistance against Russia yet condemns the Palestinians for using the same tactics – is why we’re here today. “The international community has failed the Palestinians. 75 years after the establishment of the Israeli state and the Nakba, Palestinians are still stateless, still denied their right to return to their homes, and live under brutal and inhumane military occupation and apartheid. With talks of Saudi Arabia joining UAE, Morocco and Bahrain in normalising relations with Israel, and no just political solution for the Palestinians in sight – the devastating events of these last 48 hours are destined to continue”, concludes Mashni. As UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese has said today “..security is only achievable by realizing equal rights of all to live in dignity & freedom & peace can only be achieved through int’l legality Law, not war, can prevent cyclical reproduction of injustice” |
