Last week activists in Brisbane CBD took their voices and violin to the doorstop of giant American weapons and aircraft company Boeing. To denounce Boeing, along with other US, Australian and UK based ammunition and weapons manufacturers for prolonging the wars in Gaza and the Ukraine in order to make huge profits from civilian suffering Continue reading »
Israel / Palestine
This year, as the world celebrated the holiday season, my Palestinian Christian community in Sydney, and elsewhere, experienced profound bereavement and fear, a sentiment shared by our Muslim and Jewish siblings. This year, I wondered for the first time, if my people’s culture, that of the Palestinian Christians, continuous since Jesus of Nazareth walked our Continue reading »
I dug a hole in the garden I don’t why just felt like digging Just broke up with my girlfriend I needed something … something to do Soon I’d dug so deep The sky was just a window above me But I didn’t care … mmm Looking for something deeper Jackson Jackson (2006) The parallels Continue reading »
“Israel must immediately stop its military operations and attacks in Gaza, including the assault on Rafah,” said the chair of the United Nations commission behind the investigation. A United Nations commission tasked with conducting an in-depth investigation of Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories concluded Wednesday that Israel’s government is responsible for multiple war crimes Continue reading »
It’s been a month since I relocated to a new town. It’s been traumatic. The emotions have run wild and the somatic reactions strong. At the epicentre of this emotional firestorm is a deep, wounding sense of dislocation, of severed connections with people and place. As I began to reflect on all this, I found Continue reading »
President Biden has now announced a ‘roadmap’ for Gaza that has been doing the rounds for weeks, and Australia has loyally supported it with a contribution of $A10 million. But much more time, money, and negotiations will be needed if the three-stage plan is to be a success. It would have done Prime Minister Albanese Continue reading »
“When will you finish them?” These aren’t words you normally hear while waiting in line for a coffee in the Sydney CBD. They are words that you might find a former presidential aspirant and US ambassador to the UN writing on the side of an artillery shell during a visit to Israel. Clearly the cafe owner, Continue reading »
Meet a young family of gentle Palestinians living in Gaza. The family has subsisted on tinned food from aid organisations. They cook with wood and iron posts over a besser block fireplace. Prior to October 2023, the family worked in information technology and accounting for an animal welfare charity. They are all degree holders (architects Continue reading »
Since October 7th last year more than 9,500 Palestinians including 635 minors from the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem have been held in Israeli jails. More than 3,400 Palestinian detainees, including women and children, have also been placed in administrative detention under the pretext of secret evidence. All prisoners and detainees have been subjected to Continue reading »
I am 93 years old and come from a large Jewish family; My mother’s mother being one of 13 children I had dozens of Jewish uncles and cousins while growing up and through my maternal connection claim Jewishness. Being old enough my memory covers the whole history of the formation of modern Israel and the Continue reading »