The Secretary
The victory that was Adelaide Writers' Week ...

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 victory that was Adelaide Writers' Week (March 2022)
The Secretary
Speech to rally against adoption of IHRA ...

“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.”

Speech to rally against adoption of IHRA definition of antisemitism - Sandra Kanck
News
The Secretary
How a Palestinian shoemaker started the West ...

“What started as an experiment days after the coronavirus outbreak in the West Bank is now a factory producing thousands of masks a day.

How a Palestinian shoemaker started the West Bank’s only mask factory overnight

News

Submission to the Australian Government on trade with Israel

Submission to the Australian Government on trade with Israel

In April this year, AFOPA responded to an invitation by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs to comment as part of the Government’s feasibility study on strengthening trade and investment with Israel.

The submission concludes that, from an Australian perspective, there is no apparent imperative for Australia to develop closer trading and investment links with Israel; the attraction to do so is limited, risks are involved, and public resources in Australia would more productively be spent in assessing the feasibility of trade and investment opportunities with other countries. Analysis of the available trade data and socio-political issues brings into question whether Australia’s active pursuit of closer business links with Israel is in the national interest.

Update from APAN

Update from APAN

In the latest update from APAN…

“Last week, when the leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese stated that using the word apartheid with Israel was offensive – together we swung into action.

APAN contacted Albanese’s office directly, and you and nearly 1,000 other Palestinian supporters emailed Albanese and your Labor federal representatives.

To his credit, Anthony Albanese immediately agreed to sit down to talk. Bishop George Browning, APAN President, met with Albanese and raised our concerns. Albanese confirmed his support for Palestinian human rights and his commitment to Palestinian Recognition. And he has agreed to participate in a Zoom event to talk with Australian Palestinians."

News release: AFOPA points out facts to Federal Opposition on Palestine

News release: AFOPA points out facts to Federal Opposition on Palestine

Australian Friends of Palestine Association Chair Edie Bransbury has written to Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese…

“Palestinians banned from streets where the Israeli Defence Force has installed Jewish settlers in houses from which Palestinians have been evicted, from schools reserved for Jewish children, from medical centres reserved for Jewish settlers and from public transport reserved for Jewish settlers,” she wrote. “The UN has passed resolutions deeming this forceful installation without compensation of Jewish settlers in Palestinian houses, and the policy of stealing Palestinian land to build new Jewish settlements, as illegal.”

“All Israeli policies relating to Palestinians, including the so-called Nation Law, discriminate on the basis of race, thus satisfying the definition of apartheid…”

Haaretz Journalist Gideon Levy Awarded Israel's Top Journalism Prize

Haaretz Journalist Gideon Levy Awarded Israel's Top Journalism Prize

“Journalist Gideon Levy regularly challenges the Israeli consensus in courageous work on the ground that brings the testimonies and stories of those who do not receive adequate exposure in the local media discussion – the voices of Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and in the past the Gaza Strip,” wrote the judges in their decision to award the prize. Levy “presents original and independent positions that do not surrender to convention or social codes, and in doing so enriches the public discourse fearlessly.”

 

Palestine Center for Peace, 60 Frome Street, Adelaide, South Australia

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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