Over this Summer Afopa will be posting a series called
The Protesters Speak: Interviews with BDS activists in Adelaide. We start with Co-Convenor, David Faber's eloquent answers.
June 2017 Up-dated November 2020
When did you first become interested in the issue of Palestine?
My father spoke to me about the Palestinians. He told me that they had been given a raw deal in 1948. I would have been somewhere between the ages of 5 and 12. The family bought a television in 1968 to help with my education and I became fascinated with the news. During the Yom Kippur War, I was grounded for some minor misdemeanour and occupied myself by keeping a map of the Arab progress in the war.
Why is the Palestinian issue so important to you?
For all the reasons articulated by Edward Saïd, and also because it’s one of the prime poisoned legacies that the twentieth century bequeathed to the twenty-first. It needs to be resolved - not just as a matter of justice to the Palestinians - but of security to Australia and the world, because it involves a risk of generalised war.
How did you find out about the Australian Friends of Palestine Association?
I was working at home and I heard on the radio about the first BDS picket against the Jerusalem Quartet in 2009.
What motivated you to join AFOPA and the protest group?
I knew that two friends with whom I had worked closely in the protests against the Iraq War in 2003 were on the AFOPA Executive. I heard about the protests through communications from AFOPA. Besides a sense of duty I had such strong beliefs about the issue that I felt it was good use of my time to spend one hour a week on the picket line.
What do you see as the main purpose of the BDS actions in Adelaide?
Consciousness-raising. So far, we have handed out approximately 200,000 leaflets. We are well accepted by the public, the authorities and most of the traders due to our good behaviour. Polling suggests that during the period that BDS protests have been held, awareness of justice for the Palestinians has increased.
The protests can be eventful. Do you have any special memories to share?
One day a Zionist attempted to wrestle a Palestinian flag out of my hands. On the other hand, there have been many positive conversations with members of the public.
Any predictions for the future of the BDS protest group in Adelaide?
We will keep on keeping on. The morale of the group is good, and we will be present in the Mall for as long as the Palestinians need us. After all, they are staying put in Palestine so there is no reason for us to give up. Indeed their need for support is as great as ever.
Do you have any predictions for the Palestinian people?
I think their resistance will be victorious in the end because as Obama said, the current situation is unsustainable. Even The Economist magazine, hardly a red rag, recognises that Israel itself needs to be partnered by a Palestinian state.