Mayors Antitisemitism Summit

Dear Mayor and Council Members 

I write on behalf of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) concerning the 'Australian  Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism', to be hosted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) and  Never Again Is Now (NAIN), on the Gold Coast in September 2025.  

I understand that you and other members of your Council have been invited to attend. You may be  considering attending or may have already registered. Whatever your considerations may be, I  respectfully urge you to decline this all expenses paid invitation. 

AFOPA rejects racism and discrimination of any kind, whether it be antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti Palestinian racism or racism directed at First Nations peoples. Racist and discriminatory ideologies have  no place in Australia. 

I note that CAM is a well-resourced multi-national advocacy organisation, based in the USA with a clear  and vehement pro-Israel political agenda. In recent days it has, for example, campaigned against the  recognition of Palestine, sought the revocation of a Pulitzer Prize to a Palestinian journalist and criticised  politicians who in its view are not supportive of Israel. Evidence of CAM's partisan political stance and  links to the Israeli government and military are freely available on its website and elsewhere.  

This organisation is a contributor to the insidious political strategy of defending the interests of Israel  under cover of opposing antisemitism. Proponents of this approach say that international courts are  antisemitic, that most of the nations in the UN General Assembly are antisemitic, along with academics,  journalists, artists and ordinary people opposed to Israel’s actions.  

Accusations of antisemitism or declarations of a 'grave emergency' (where there isn’t one in Australia)  should not be used to shield the Israeli Government from legitimate criticism or to silence calls for  justice for Palestinians. Fortunately, antisemitism is uncommon in Australia. Legitimate criticism of Israel  is based on government and military actions, not Jewish identity.  

Renowned Israeli and Jewish scholars, academics, religious leaders and journalists are calling for an end  to Israel’s domination and oppression of the Palestinian people and have done so for many years. All  around the world hundreds of thousands of Jewish people are calling for justice for Palestinians, as  evidenced by their leadership of protest actions and marches. In Australia, organisations such as the  Jewish Council of Australia, have made it clear in numerous public statements that criticism of Israel is  not antisemitism and that antisemitism is being weaponised by the Israel lobby in this country to stifle  criticism of Israel.  

It is a matter of record that Israel has oppressed the Palestinian people for the last 77 years, illegally  occupies Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem (the Occupied Palestinian Territories); and by enacting  discriminatory laws and maintaining a military occupation, has created an apartheid state

In the last 21 months Israel has conducted a relentless slaughter of at least 60,000 Palestinians,  including 20,000 children; has obliterated 80 percent of Gaza’s residential dwellings; has killed hundreds  of journalists, aid workers and health professionals; and has ensured that no hospital has been left  standing or has any form of medical treatment available for the injured and dying.  

Israel is now deliberately starving 2 million people in Gaza. There is no hiding from the images of  emaciated, skeletal children and babies on our screens every day.  

The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court have made it clear, through a  series of judgements, that Israel is operating outside of international law in relation to illegal occupation  and the crime of apartheid; and furthermore, that it is plausible that Israel is conducting a genocide of  the Palestinian people.  

The UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, respected international organisations such as Amnesty  International, Human Rights Watch, Israel’s own major human rights organisation B’tselem and  countless genocide scholars agree that Israel is conducting a genocide with the aim of ethnically  

cleansing Gaza of Palestinians so that it may be settled by Israeli Jews only. Indeed, Israel’s Prime  Minister and members of his Cabinet have explicitly stated that this is their aim.  

Against these facts, the co-host of the ‘Mayors’ Summit’, NAIN, whose organisational name recalls the  horrors of the Nazi genocide of European Jews, has ignored that a genocide is in progress, appearing to  have not noticed that never again IS happening NOW. It is just happening to an inconvenient population.  

This ‘Mayor’s Summit’ is a thinly veiled attempt by the Israel Lobby to amplify the false narrative that  antisemitism is out of control in Australia and that urgent action is needed; furthermore, that special,  exclusive measures are needed to fight antisemitism. This is simply not true, especially given that  strategies, laws and government agencies established to fight all forms of racism and discrimination in  Australia are easily accessible to Councils. This event is simply part of a broader strategy to redefine  legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitism. 

On behalf of AFOPA’s thousands of members and supporters, I ask you to please carefully consider  attending this event, or if you have already registered, to change your mind. 

Yours sincerely 

Christa Christaki 

Chairperson AFOPA  

31 July 2025