🇵🇸🗣️🚫🇮🇱 Sydney Rally 3 Dec: Misrepresentation of the Pro-Palestine cause
Make waves not graves: For Dignity and Humanity
Summary
On attending my fourth ever protest rally in Sydney, Australia (never mind fourth ever pro-Palestinian rally) I thought I’d capture a few thoughts on the day and deep-dive into a few themes from the rally.
Contents
Introduction
I attended my fourth ever Pro-Palestine rally today in Hyde Park Sydney - in fact my fourth ever pro-anything rally.
I’ve been outraged by the treatment of Palestinians for many years but passively watched with horror - like many other people. The most I did was to stop buying Sodastream and heatedly discuss privately with friends whenever it came up (so they stopped asking). Then October 7th happened.
I was and still remain absolutely horrified at the events of October 7th.
But the unprecedented response thereafter follows the long pattern of behaviour that finally is getting transparency, and I wanted to add my own voice to calling out this hiding-in-plain-sight injustice, through writing and protest.
In addition to talking to points on today’s rally itself - it is worth looking at some of the detail behind the points raised in today’s speeches, and events over the last few weeks.
In particular examples of the increased false accusations of antisemitism as the conflict goes in a cynical strategy to deflect from the genocide. It is worth deconstructing these with examples and detail rather than just accepting the McCarthyite accusations.
Key Developments discussed in today’s rally
The passionate co-organiser today was quite overly emotional and quite rightly.
15,000 Palestinian deaths at least to date (whether “Hamas-Controlled Health Ministry reported” or not - UNICEF must have a view, and god knows how many are under the rubble or secondary deaths through disease or other)
200 deaths overnight - 35 minutes after the ceasefire ended Israel rained down 11 rockets on a refugee camp. Seriously let’s not get hung up on 200/11 - it’s the principal of the approach.
Prisoner Release: Net Increase - vastly more arrested during even the prisoner swap period than released! And who’s to say people won’t be re-arrested?
Deaths on the West Bank: not controlled by Hamas - hundreds since October 7th
Soul of my soul: Grandpa Khaled Nabhan with his dead Granddaughter Reem: just terrible footage of a grandfather hugging his dead grandchild one last time1… They have become a symbol for the heartbreak. 💔🇵🇸
In the face of all that - today’s focus was on dignity and humanity - whilst calling out those who seek to distort or deflect.
Media & Government Demonisation of the Protestors
There was a fair bit of commentary on the presentation of the protests and the media - how the Palestinian protestors are demonised, at best ignored in column-inches with the continued one-sided coverage. But like the war itself - it’s becoming blatantly obvious the tactics being used, and people are not happy with it.
It’s fecking ridiculous typical tabloid journalism playing to the lowest common denominator with isolated pictures of angry, muscled and tattooed young Lebanese men - supposedly representing all of the tens of thousands of protestors from all ages and walks of life.
Opera House initial racist idiots NOTHING to do with pro-Palestine protestors
I am sick of the Opera House antisemitic idiots on 9 October with their racist chants being associated with the protests in Hyde Park. Totally unrelated and it’s just awful. It’s all people associate with Australia and Palestinian protest due to the “on repeat” nature of the images at the national landmark for what was a short period by a fringe group gatecrashing the peaceful protest then told to leave.
One of the Palestine Action Group Sydney organisers Josh Lees was interviewed by the ABC on 10 October2 and put the record straight in 30 seconds as above, in addition to a formal statement3. Facts:
The official march had a people from all walks of life attending including Jewish people
The march was peaceful
Right at the end in a SEPARATE event organised by others - a tiny group of thugs turned up and stood next to the protestors
They chanted antisemitic chants for a few minutes (during which they were filmed)
They were told to leave and did so
So nothing at all to do with the main organisers and a moment in time despicable as it was
The PAG is not a racist organisation, deplores antisemitism and positions this at all protests (this is true of the four protests I have attended and witnessed with my own eyes)
This Opera House generalisation needs to stop. I personally posted calling these idiots scum the very next day.
Nevertheless - the despicable footage gets played over and over again on News Corp and the implication or association is with the peaceful Hyde Park protests. I’ve run out of superlatives - manipulative, confirmation bias, deplorable, lack of integrity, unconscionable journalism etc. etc. Shame.
Israeli Ambassador to Australia 10 Oct - “Palestinians are animals”
What is more interesting is the video segment immediately following this. The Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon was on just before Josh.4
During his interview Maimon called Palestinians (NOT Hamas) “animals”
Josh confronted the ABC Newsreader on this and for not correcting the Ambassador.
The ABC Newsreader flustered and said “that was a startling statement …. this is the sort of heightened language we’re getting at the moment”
Absolutely terrible. Josh went on to note in-line with Maimon’s comments:
The Israeli War Minister described the Palestinians as “animals”
Benjamin Netenyahu said “we will make Gaza Strip a desert island”
Together with cutting off food, electricity, water, medical supplies, indiscriminate and disproportionate attack (by Geneva Conventions) this is clearly collective punishment - at best a war crime and taking into account the pre-emptive statements made this early in the campaign (lots more including the above) - a good case for genocide.
This was on 10th October and to repeat our Australian Ambassador from Israel called Palestinians “animals”….
You don’t hear much about that and I’m pretty sure the PR machine is winding back rhetoric to avoid further evidence for the ICC.
Themes on bias and censorship mentioned by today’s speakers
Bearing in mind the humanitarian catastrophe, public discourse continues to obfuscate and divert from this key issue, never mind acknowledge:
Chris Minns NSW Premier - focusing on cost of policing the rallies - $1M5: but what’s the price of a human life was the question from an organiser. For me - it’s what 1 bloody rocket. And I’m a taxpayer, I don’t like my Government’s enabling policies, and it’s a free country. Fuck ‘em.
Focus on Antisemitism at expense of talking about the Gaza deaths: Yes of course it’s deplorable - but noted the open letter 600 signatures dangers of antisemitism in Australia6 - never ONCE in the reporting or discussion around the letter acknowledging the thousands of deaths in Gaza (I removed the word “genocide” which diverts from the point). Appreciating the focus is domestic and internal tensions, I note that in all reporting and the campaign itself the focus is “end all hatred” with Antisemitsm with a capital “A” and other forms of racism almost as an afterthought. The Open Letter ran to a LinkedIn campaign which again highlights antisemitism over others. I wrote an article on this recently - some concerns over how that lobby presented and how the info will be used below.
Concerns over the presentation of and use of the antisemitism pledge
Not protesting against Judaism: This should without saying, but many of the Speakers - going into detail - noted that this is not an interfaith war at all so again - media and others must stop presenting it this way (video 34.07)
School Protests - deplored - from Chris Minns saying students “might want to educate themselves first” to active, opportunistic and quite frankly irresponsible association with antisemtism - more on this below.
Jason Clare Education Minister - calling for turning down temperature, calling the protests awful. Calling out the Oct 7th acts as “barbaric and evil” when asked if condoning Israel’s approach - “look we condemn violence on all sides” - always avoiding naming Israel. Nobody in public life in Australia wants to do this because of the risk of being called antisemitic… worth calling out separately.
The Real “Propaganda”
As a revealing example to blatant tarring of protestors, the new Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ - “the roof body and the voice of the Australian Jewish Community”) Alex Ryvchin called the school protests7:
“…extremist protests …. organised by hardened anti-Israeli protesters to advance their propaganda ”
How incredibly heartless and quite frankly hypocritical is that?
“Propaganda” is a loaded word - the definition of which for pro-Palestine is a policy position that simply calls for the enforcement of documented International law breaches vs. the Israeli State Policy Position of ongoing violation.
To try to tar pro-Palestinian protestors as “pro-Hamas, extremist protestors” (with the language and selective imagery repeated in the News Corp Press over and over) keeps the narrative on potential antisemitism - deflecting from the fact it’s about human rights and quite simply - calling for international bodies to do what they said they would and indeed are mandated to do - which is to enforce documented breaches of international law.
This is not “Hamas” as John Oliver eloquently outlines below8:
Contrasting Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli positions
Essentially - other than keeping the ignorance of Israel’s ignorance of international law in the public eye - the pro-Palestinian position is confirmed and advocated by international political and legal bodies.
The incredible reality is you don’t even need to justify the positions - it’s independently done for you.
All the pro-Palestine lobby is doing as stated above - is calling for international bodies do what they said they would and indeed are mandated to do - which is to enforce documented breaches of international law.
The continued violation unconscionably without sanctions enforced by the international community as is precedent in other cases is long-running and kept out the mainstream press through various vested interests and media bias and only now with the crisis people are taking a step back and saying “hang on a minute…..” 🤔⁉️
It is just horrific it has taken the deplorable events of October 7th for this to happen - not justifying those disgusting events for one minute (as more and more details come out in particular).
The below are examples of the global and local organisations that have produced damning, documented reports on Israel’s behaviour over and extended period of time, and in the case of the UN, issued resolutions under international law which have been ignored.
Israel has continued to rubbish the finding of all these organisations, a line taken by its satellite lobby groups throughout the world. Can these organisations really ALL be wrong, biased, antisemitic?
To contrast the stance and sources of the key points in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli lobby groups or protests.
🇵🇸 Pro-Palestinian position
First off to be clear despite repeated deflective accusations to the contrary:
Pro Palestinian-rights protests ARE NOT Hamas related
This was clearly stated at today’s protest and previous others. It is not an “extremist political agenda” - quite the opposite - it's for fair and equitable treatment, human rights and the enforcement of international law, which Israel has ignored multiple times.
For a comprehensive list of Israeli breaches of international law, with international and external legal opinions, NGO reports and others see article below:
🇮🇱 Pro-Israeli position
Pro-Israeli overseas lobbies by contrast ARE a mirrored extension of Israeli State Policy perpetuating the breaches of international law outlined in the UN reports.
Another policy of the Israeli State is unsurprisingly discrediting the UN and calling for the dismantling of long-standing bodies (which would cease investigations)- and no wonder with the above active actions and investigations exposing the truth.
The organisation responsible for enforcing Israeli State policy in the occupied territories is the Israeli Government department Co-Ordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)9.
From the COGAT website - notably the Palestinian Worker’s Rights page is currently inactive. It is probably being updated since the decision to return 18,000 Palestinian workers back to Gaza and the removal of all future work permits. Israel is currently seeking to replace the workers with foreign labour10.
School Protests - Opportunistic accusations of Antisemitism
Returning back to Australian school protests.
Yes there’s a point in young people skipping school on multiple occasions to unofficially attend external events. But it’s the end of the year, and these are exceptional circumstances. Just as the events have stirred me as an older person to attend protests for the first time in my life at the other end of the age spectrum young people must be feeling the same way.
But this is being opportunistically positioned again as antisemitism.
On school protests, ECAJ Co-CEO Ryvchin provocatively and irresponsibly went on to say:
“I think also of what will happen when those students and those teachers that are participating in these marches will return to their classrooms and how Jewish students and Jewish teachers will feel knowing that their peers just marched against them in this way,”
This is a textbook example of weaponising antisemitism - the students are not marching against Jewish people - it’s against the policies of the Israeli State. This is just awful obfuscation - and quite frankly encouraging racism by painting anyone who attends a protest as being anti-Jewish.
Shame on Ryvchin.
Perhaps it may be a better approach to credit a young person to be able to see what’s happening to innocent people, know the difference between the actions of a State vs. tarring a whole religion or their Jewish teachers and classmates, and credit them with feeling outraged enough to march, as I have.
Is is irresponsible to make such statements without guidance.
If pro-Israeli groups are serious about “ending all racism” as recent campaigns under an antisemitism banner, how about walking the talk and working with Islamic leaders to take the time to explain jointly to young people that:
students (including Jewish students) supporting Israel’s state policies are not protesting against Islam or their Muslim classmates
students (including Muslim students) protesting against Israeli State policies are not protesting against Judaism or their fellow Jewish classmates
Equally students should be given education if they are going to protest - what slogans might be considered/are Antisemitic and what might be Islamophobic, and why (as all protestors could do with education in).
To be fair, ONE misguided student had a placard with an image of a football with an Israeli flag going into a dustbin saying “Keep the World Clean”. The student needed to be aware of this or called out before the rally.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi was pictured standing in front of the girl11, which of course is reproduced ad naseum in the News Corp Press (Tony Abbott had a similar but more blatant moment whilst talking about then PM Julia Gillard with sexist signs behind him over 12 years ago12).
Students need educated and politicians need sharper media advisers.
At this time, adults should be guiding students in their behaviour and stressing the difference between tarring a whole religion to showcase how to maintain that respectful difference of opinion.
Schools - Wearing of solidarity symbols
It goes without saying such protests should be kept out of schools. But in that context, wearing a keffiyah or an Israeli Flag lapel badge13 is not having a go at individuals with an opposing viewpoint, it’s demonstrating your personal position. But up to individual schools to enforce that, as each has different demographs and school norms, but if allowed, it must be equal but more importantly it must be positioned.
Having said that - in Germany, with its understandable sensitivities over antisemitism with the history - the German education minister on 13 October wrote to all schools giving head teachers permission to ban students from wearing the keffiyeh14.
Incredibly - the letter from the education Minister Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch to schools said anything considered “an endorsement or approval of the attacks against Israel, or the terrorist organisations carrying them out such as Hamas, Hezbollah” giving examples such as:
The visible wearing of relevant clothing (for example, the Kufiya known as the Palestinian cloth)
Showing stickers and stickers with inscriptions such as "free Palestine" or a map of Israel in the colors of Palestine (white, red, black, green - comment: this is understandable)
Exclamation like "free Palestine!" and the demonstrative verbal support of Hamas and its terrorism
Apart from completely ignoring the impact of the war on Palestinian human rights - this is a clearly oversensitive misinterpretation by Germany. The distinctive green Hamas flag was quite rightly banned in 202115 - but this should not be associated with support for the country under the Palestinian flag unrelated to Hamas.
The above action in schools just one of multiple other actions in the country which suppresses all solidarity for the humanitarian cause in Palestine again nothing to do with Hamas.
I do hope other countries do not start following the German approach.
To be fair - calling it out when you do see it
There was ONE case for me today of what I considered antisemitism, knowingly or not; an old man holding a hand painted sign (more of a painting) with Biden and Netenyahu with a swaztika overlooking green fields of Palestine. I did speak to him about the antisemitic content, and he understood the concern and thanked me for the advice. Look, he probably just carried on but you need to at least call it out, and I will suggest to organisers they position this (below).
I can’t feel the anger and pain in the heart of someone more directly related to the crisis who might draw a sign like this in their passion - but I can try to help them channel that in the most effective way if I can by avoiding protestors being silenced through the News Corp press taking that as representation of the group (he was literally one in thousands).
At the risk of being called “bloody wowser” as they say in Australia!
Perfect Example - From the River To The Sea not antisemitic
There was a real explanation of the fact the struggle is not interfaith, not antisemitic and that there’s structured attempts to demonise and smear with examples.
One thing really resonated for me today - a clear illustrative example of what “from the river to the sea” means (45.22 in video)
“one day it will be possible for anyone of any religion to drive from Jerusalem to Gaza to have a picnic by the oceans by the rivers, with no special documents, no passports, no permits, no checkpoints, nothing - we will walk in liberation and freedom witnessing a free Palestine”
This is not calling for destruction of Israel, the changing of borders - it’s essentially freedom of movement between two countries - consider the soft border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Idealistic maybe - but that’s the peaceful dream of “from the river to the sea”.
To Conclude
A real momentum today and a real platform for further protest next week.
With the increased accusations of antisemitism for simply peacefully protesting it is important to be wise to the strategies employed as above and understand what is and what is not antisemitic.
For actual antisemitism - which I have seen two signs at the four protests I have attended (and spoken out on) - and nothing else - it is important to shut this down.
There must be no excuse for continuing to demonise the protestors and important not to give any excuses to News Corp to blast one or two photos of inappropriate material.
It would be good to have on say Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) website on their antisemitism page16 a simple 1 pager to hand outlining what is or could be framed as antisemitic and what could not.
Perhaps the organisers note this and to ask people to constructively and supportively self-police and stop this if they see it, explaining why. They’d be best to balance the emotion with rising above any accusations of antisemitism to keep the focus.
You’re just holding yourself back with the one or two and you know it will be the one photo NewsCorp show.
🏴🇵🇸 I had a chat with the organisers as I passed by to check if appropriate to bring a Scottish flag, explaining the position of my Scottish Government v the UK by passing a ceasefire motion with powerful yet balanced wording as I’ve outlined in the article below:
Pride in the 🏴 Scottish Government taking a stance as one of the few Western Governments calling for a complete Ceasefire in Gaza in contrast to the 🇬🇧 UK position:
More than happy. I have a saltire (lion) flag already but I think I need to get the more widely recognised St. Andrew’s flag for next week, and hopefully a pole large enough for the Palestinian flag also!
Noting pleasingly next Sunday is the 75th Anniversary of the Global Declaration of Human Rights17 so serendipitous - however you’d want to get on the front foot as I’m sure protestors/Palestinians will still be demonised somehow, I predict emphasising pinkwashing.
Regardless - very enthusiastic about today! Felt a positive yet assertive atmosphere and some real momentum.
Roll on next week!
Related Articles & Links
Stream and Images:
Facebook Stream of today’s speeches hosted by Sydney Community Studio: 📺👉 https://www.facebook.com/SCSNEW.AU/videos/1075919830078918/
Images from today to music, Facebook Reel on Sleekit Scotsman page: : 📺👉 https://www.facebook.com/share/r/kAZJ1dUJ5jfEbWji/?mibextid=uKSjGR
Substack Articles:
Antisemitism v Free Speech Statement: Statement on Antisemitism v Free Speech with review and examples of terminology and nuance (Substack article from original FB post 23 Nov)
Antisemitism Advertising: Appropriating generic racism narrative and controlling the mailing list (Substack 2 Dec)
Vote with your soda: why the BDS movement is not antisemitic and practical action
Flying the Scottish Flag: Pride in the Scottish Government voting a motion calling for a complete Ceasefire in Gaza on 21 Nov in contrast to the UK position:
Congress opportunistically redefining antisemitism (6 Dec):
Other
Australian Islamophobia Register: Started in 2014 - https://islamophobia.com.au/about-us/
On way to 26th November Rally - Devil’s Advocate: “Why are you still protesting you idiot, there’s a ceasefire!?”- (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid02ydktqBoEYczGa6Kh1mvFSXZZBkWnpQsaJnUTECoS36P7inoAoSTZMiq2oDpbfgCWl
Past 3 Rallies: Images, Video, Commentary
Sunday 26th November Rally
Commentary & Pics: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) -https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid0ZhhSrW1tQEitB8TJSvYA2MhMPVpXorTQxaLMKN45w85uyf932ziguZrBiZZWPiJql
Video (FB Reel) of From the River to the Sea Chant - noting not antisemitic: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid0XBFKwxZDJJZjc1sdokAtwDy5LB31nsXCZh3oiCF4VAJj1qz7GnTpL7gWCNQpr8Xsl
Video (FB Reel) of Pics - on Christians: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid02mqmum7Xr1S2pmG4P6MCCCTuwBaoNFHttXCQWx3AVJn2BV7QAdNc2E9eXeCjDnUqAl
Sunday 19th November Rally
Commentary & Pics: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid02DmAMV2URY1mNVCqMvN9WzqbnaLQ3mRRVC6CPgnGoW5Zm2ud662VJuY8E1mZc2eHKl
Video - awful recreation of a Gaza street with bloodied children, with real sound from Gaza - confronting to watch but you can’t turn away: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=360974899772658
Video (FB Reel) of Pics juxtaposed John Lennon “War is Over” - not… : (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) https://www.facebook.com/reel/340204008703489
Sunday 12th November Rally
Commentary & Pics: First Ever Protest - never mind Pro-Palestinian: (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/posts/pfbid02CQ6RmXghEdAtn1iZqdZZSSJ4AERPerAoFNMJw5X8pykC2HvZmRkQ5fwDae5ikkFPl
Video - Positioning “From the River to the Sea” as not antisemitic (Sleekit Scotsman Original Facebook Post) - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=935120374994453
CNN Grandfather grieves 3-year-old granddaughter killed as she slept in Gaza - https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-28-23/h_3310a6fb75b6ad07732b743c09778e31 .
ABC News 10 October - source video: ( YouTube.com + watch?v=B6zoyBvcxP0 - split up to avoiding Substack auto-embedding)
Palestine Action Group Facebook Page 10 Oct “Palestine Action Group statement on last night's protest:“ - https://www.facebook.com/syd.bmbc/posts/pfbid09my4jNoCoqAW8jmn3L1U8Zb5h5Vss5c51gk8iWRXZBmVCk63nhhHKndrNuL6GFpDl
Palestine Action Group Facebook page noting calling out Israeli Ambassador for calling Palestinians “animals” - unsurprisingly the actual footage of the Ambassador is not available but acknowledged by the ABC Newsreader and Josh - https://www.facebook.com/syd.bmbc/videos/1972681999762139/
ABC 13 Nov “NSW Premier Chris Minns hopeful Commonwealth will help pay for police at Israel-Gaza protests“ - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-13/nsw-minns-protest-commonwealth-funding-call/103097976
The Daily Telegraph “High profile Aussie leaders sign open letter condemning rise of racism, anti-semitism” Nov 28 2023 - https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/high-profile-aussie-leaders-sign-open-letter-condemning-rise-of-racism-antisemitism/news-story/e47bbd2443eec51b0902861c95706d0a
Sky News Australia Nov 23: School Protests described “Extremist” by ECAJ - https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/melbourne-school-strike-for-palestine-denounced-for-indoctrinating-children-into-an-extremist-political-agenda/news-story/2b4ddd6dbfaaa6b555cf091c23ffe8a2
HBO “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” broadcast 13 Nov 2023
Israeli Government Website: Co-Ordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) - https://www.gov.il/en/departments/coordination-of-government-activities-in-the-territories/govil-landing-page
CBC News 1 Dec “After mass exodus, Israel's rush to replace foreign workers raises human rights concerns“ - https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/foreign-workers-israel-labour-market-human-rights-1.7045138
Daily Mail 24 Nov 2023 “Disturbing detail is spotted in photo of Greens senator at school student protest for Palestine”- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12786475/Greens-Mehreen-Faruqi-school-student-protest-Palestine.html
Canberra Times Apr 23 2018 “Julia Gillard on the moment that should have killed Tony Abbott's career“- https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6065938/julia-gillard-on-the-moment-that-should-have-killed-tony-abbotts-career/
As a side note - on searching for a comparison of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine school students with corresponding symbols, I do note that it is impossible to find images on the internet of Jewish school students protesting on behalf of Israel, probably for good security reasons.
RBB 24 News (German language website) 13 Oct 2023 “[translation]Berlin schools can ban the wearing of Palestinian cloths“- https://www.rbb24.de/politik/beitrag/2023/10/berlin-israel-senatsverwaltung-guenther-wuensch-schulfrieden-palaestinenser-tuecher-free-palestine-.html
Deutsche Welle News 20 Jun 2021 “German government agrees to ban Hamas flag“ - https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-agrees-to-ban-hamas-flag-after-antisemitic-incidents/a-57970705
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network - Antisemitism overview: https://apan.org.au/antisemitism/
UN Human Rights Day website - https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day