View the documentary by Inka Stafrace that the ABC withdrew from broadcast. “Judge for yourself”

An Australian’s journey through the underbelly of Israel’s occupation of Palestine

3:30pm, Sunday 12 September
FTI Film and Television Institute, 92 Adelaide St, Fremantle.

“an important document of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine…” Antony Loewenstein

PHOTO: Friends of Palestine at Friends of Israel launch.

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, Friends of Palestine (WA — FOPWA) must be doing something right: Friends of Israel (WA) was launched on August 8.

The group’s website is a mix of nationalism and barely concealed racism. “Israel is in the front lines of the global battle between those who love life and those who glorify death”, it says.
The launch took place at the Victory Life Centre, a fundamentalist Christian church, in Osborne Park, Perth.

Despite the groundswell of people criticising Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine, and the human rights abuses associated with it, the list of speakers and supporters at the launch was telling: federal opposition foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, foreign minister Stephen Smith, and WA Labor opposition leader Eric Ripper, among many others.

FOPWA wrote to these politicians, telling them unconditional support of Israel is no longer uncontroversial. Responses to our letter were varied: State senator Glenn Sterle called and lectured us, we had a meeting with Bishop’s advisor, and others indicated they had open minds and were willing to attend FOPWA events to hear another perspective.

FOPWA had a dignified presence at the Friends of Israel launch, ensuring nobody there could ignore the silenced Palestinian voice.

Some of us wore tape over our mouths to visually represent this. Our signs read “Friends don’t let friends…”, the sentence finishing with various Israeli crimes: occupy; imprison children; kill peace activists; steal passports; starve Gaza.

More than 1000 people attended the launch, mainly from the church.

It was advertised as a public event, but a FOPWA member was initially ejected from the venue. After negotiations with state security, two members were allowed to observe proceedings. They reported a startling absence of the words “Palestinian”, “occupation”, “West Bank” or “Gaza”.

Smith made mention of a “peace process”, but otherwise there was no mention of peace.

Attendees mostly hurried past us, reading our signs despite themselves. But a couple took time to talk. One woman bemoaned Israel’s actions in Gaza, then sadly said “but I’m a Christian, so I have to support Israel”.

As a young Palestinian family joined us, they were taunted with “Is it terrorist shopping day out?”

FOPWA won’t stop spreading the message of justice until such views are relegated to history, and Palestinians have justice and human rights.

[This article by Friends of Palestine co-convenor Sarah Haynes was first published in Green Left Weekly.]

Below: Photos from the night

As a group of volunteers, advertising our activities in several different forums, we can use our resources more effectively than moderating and responding to all posts.

There are plenty of places where readers can and should debate the issues.

We thank you for your participation to date, and look forward to welcoming you at one of our events.

This video (above) shows the powerful conclusion to Diana Buttu’s speech in Perth on June 23. In this segment she explains why we should support the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel.

The video below is a YouTube playlist of the whole of Buttu’s talk:

Palestinian Christian and human rights activist

Friday 2 July 7:30pm

Uniting Church Centre, 85 Edward St, East Perth

A public lecture with opportunity for questions

This event has been organised by the Council of Churches WA in conjunction with act for peace. Information from: http://www.churcheswa.com.au/activities/rifatkassis/

Rifat Odeh Kassis is a Palestinian Christian and human rights activist born in Beit Sahour. He is a prominent member of the Palestinian Lutheran community and member of its Church Council, has held a range of positions within human rights and advocacy organisations within Palestine and internationally including Special Adviser to the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Welfare of Children.

Rifat Kassis has authored two books, Palestine: A Bleeding Wound in the World’s Conscience, co-authored with Dr Mitri Raheb and Christian Community: Facts, Figures and Trends. He had also held the position of Editor of Chain Reaction, the WCC periodical on Palestine and Israel.

The purpose of this lecture is:

1. to encourage accurate awareness within the Christian community of the reality of life for Palestinian people within Palestine; and
2. to encourage increased commitment within the Christian community and the broader Australian public to actively support a just, sustainable peace for Palestinian people and Israeli people.

Rifat Kassis is a guest of act for peace and the Canberra-based Ecumenical Working Group on Palestine and Israel, which relates to act for peace.  The visit is primarily funded by act for peace and co-ordinated by the Ecumenical Working Group on Palestine and Israel.

Enquiries may be directed to:
The Reverend Chris Bedding
Acting General Secretary
gensec@churcheswa.com.au

with SugarChild

The Irish Club
61 Townshend Road, Subiaco
$25 ($20 conc)

“Listen to David Rovics…” Pete Seeger
“David Rovics is the musical version of Democracy Now” Amy Goodman

David Rovics grew up in a family of classical musicians in Wilton, Connecticut, and became a fan of populist regimes early on. By the early 90′s he was a full-time busker in the Boston subways and by the mid-90′s he was traveling the world as a professional flat-picking rabble-rouser. These days David lives with his family in Portland, Oregon and tours regularly on four continents, playing for audiences large and small at cafes, pubs, universities, churches, union halls and protest rallies. He has shared the stage with a veritable of who’s who of the left in two dozen countries, and has had his music featured on Democracy Now!, BBC, Al-Jazeera and other networks. His essays are published regularly on CounterPunch elsewhere, and the 200+ songs he makes available for free on the web have been downloaded more than a million times. Most importantly, he’s really good. He will make you laugh, he will make you cry, he will make the revolution irresistible.

Phone Alex 0413 976 638 or Victoria 0449 028 894.

Presented by Friends of Palestine WA & Green Left Weekly

www.fopwa.org
www.greenleft.org.au
www.davidrovics.com
http://www.myspace.com/sugarchildtheband

DOWNLOAD: David Rovics Poster A3

DOWNLOAD: David Rovics A4 notice

DOWNLOAD: Double A5 flyer (on A4)

DOWNLOAD: Four A6 flyers (on A4)

Diana Buttu is one of the most eloquent and effective spokespersons for the Palestinian cause, representing a voice of reason, the empowerment of Palestinian women, and the essential value of justice in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ms Buttu is known for her contribution to the litigation team at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which resulted in their 2004 landmark opinion against Israel’s wall, which cuts through Palestinian territory in the West Bank, dividing people from their families, schools, hospitals and places of employment.

In 2000, shortly after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada (“uprising”), Ms Buttu joined the PLO Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) to work as a negotiator on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Ms Buttu has laboured extensively to influence the depiction of Palestine and Israel in the media.

In 2005, Ms Buttu left the NSU and moved to the President’s office, after which she taught at Bir Zeit University from 2006-2007. Ms Buttu’s work for justice for Palestinians continues through collaboration with the Institute for Middle East Understanding in the USA. Buttu believes that someday freedom and equal rights will come to the Palestinians.

Ms Diana Buttu’s visit to Australia is organized by the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and supported by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), Australian Nursing Federation (ANF), Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), Australian Education Union (AEU), and Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU – NSW Branch).

Video by Zeb Parkes

This video is from the Perth premiere performance of “Seven Jewish Children: a play for Gaza” on May 15, 2010. The play is by Caryl Churchill and was directed by Vivienne Glance.