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.”
"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."
"Addressing a large audience, Mandela said that the Nation-State Law passed in 2018 declaring Israel to be the historical homeland of the Jewish people "confirmed what we have always known to be the true character and reality of Israel: Israel is an apartheid state". He also outlined what had constituted apartheid for black South Africans - from the creation of bantustan reservations to land expropriation and the daily assault on dignity."
"Unfortunately, what has been revealed confirms our belief at the Palestinian Authority that the plan, which is being drafted by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and other Trump administration officials, is simply a repackaging of a stale, discredited concept known as “economic peace” long advocated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a longtime friend of the Kushner family."
"Kushner's "deal of the century" has by far surpassed all others in this regard by completely decoupling politics from economic solutions. Since the 1990 Madrid conference, the peace process had been built on the principle of "land for peace", where Israel withdraws from Arab land it occupied in 1967 in exchange for peace and the normalisation of relations with the Palestinians and Arabs."
"“However, today is not about the political issues. We will get to those at the right time.” It is not clear whether the Trump team plans to abandon the “two-state solution”, which involves creation of an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel. The United Nations and most countries back the two-state solution, which has underpinned every peace plan for decades, but Trump’s team has consistently refused to commit to it."
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
