What began as a powerful anti-Palestinian campaign by a few Zionist organisations and individuals turned into a victory for Adelaide Writers' Week (AWW) and the Palestinian writers who attended.
The sessions featuring the Palestinians, particularly those held in conjunction with Australian First Nations writers, were phenomenally popular; hundreds of people attended these sessions.
As Louise Adler said, “People are free to deeply object. They don’t have to come. Or come, and you don’t need to agree with what people think. But people listened. These steadfast Adelaide audiences came out in their thousands and listened with courtesy and respect for the conversation. It should be something that lifts the spirits of all of us.”
“The definition proposed for adoption by the South Australian parliament is one devised by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (or IHRA). It is a flawed definition because it singles out one group of people for special treatment. This motion is specific to Israel and to Israel only. The motion moved by One Nation’s Sarah Game gives Israel a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
The motion itself determines the ways in which we might be allowed to criticise Israel without finding ourselves labelled as antisemitic.”
“With great fanfare, President Trump finally unveiled his long-anticipated Middle East peace proposal. The proposal was labeled ‘The Deal of the Century’ because it was supposed to offer an even-handed and just solution to one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. Instead it does something very different. The ‘Deal of the Century’ resurrects and restores grand apartheid, a racist political system that should have been left in the dustbins of history.”
“The United States Congress has rejected a request from the White House for $175m in funds that would go towards pushing the Trump administration's Middle East "peace plan". In a bipartisan decision on Monday, lawmakers rejected having funds be set aside in the government's 2020 budget. In a section devoted to the Middle East, a Congressional document stated: "The agreement does not provide $175,000,000 for a Diplomatic Progress Fund, as proposed in the House report.””
"Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has announced the suspension of all agreements signed with Israel. The 84-year-old's declaration on Thursday came after an emergency meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the wake of Israel's demolition this week of several Palestinian buildings in Sur Baher village - a move Abbas described as an act of "ethnic cleansing"."
"In the past, his conclusions have been heavily criticised by the United States and Israel. Lynk's recommendations are not legally-binding. While his requests may seem overly ambitious, Palestinian activists could well see them as a useful alternative to a formal peace process that has largely ground to a halt. Israel's mission to the UN did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment."
"Over 70 years later, it is becoming increasingly common to come across analogies between Palestinian refugees such as the ones from Lydda and Ramle, and the "simultaneous uprooting" of Jews living in Arab countries. Israel's Deputy Minister of Finance Yitzhak Cohen, for example, has said that: "The uprooted Jews' problem is equal to, if not greater than, the Palestinian refugees' problem.""
Information | Resources | Products from Palestine
Mon, Wed, Fri 9:30am-4:30pm | Tel. 08 8232 5273
AFOPA acknowledges that we work and organise on the lands of the Kaurna people. We also acknowledge that sovereignty of this land and the lands across this vast continent of over 250 nations has never been ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lands
