On the day Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the election date, Jews Against the Occupation ’48 issued an open statement addressing the current government in the hope that Labor would shift its policies on Israel/Palestine.
Perhaps this is a case of hoping against hope. But if the statement, being public, also reaches those who are as deeply upset about the genocide on Gaza as anti-Zionist Jewish Australians are, and as baffled by the government’s inaction, as enraged about Australia’s complicity in this catastrophic crime of crimes, then there is hope they will send a strong message by their vote.
Open statement to the current Government of Australia:
As you finalise your policies for the coming election, we urge you not to ignore the three most pressing international issues of our time: the perpetuation of war and division worldwide, the utter destruction of our planet by ecocide, the erosion of international law and human rights principles.
How these issues play out to our detriment can be seen particularly clearly in Israel’s war on the Palestinian people. As Israel’s colonial project enters its most extreme phase, we witness with horror how genocide, ecocide and fascism destroy the fabric of all life in Palestine. Not only of Israel’s Palestinian victims, but while it unlawfully obliterates and appropriates, Israel is hollowing out itself.
Let this be a warning, if not a wake-up call, to the countries that support Israel’s maniacal Zionism. For in their complicity, they lose their moral backbone, too, and become perpetrators of war, ecocide and lawlessness themselves.
Australia, as a sovereign nation, should refuse to participate in this evil. It should aspire to active leadership in peace, justice and human rights, including women’s rights, children’s rights and refugee rights, all of which are being so blatantly crushed by the apartheid state.
Jews Against the Occupation ’48 urges you to heed the many independent reports that have been coming out lately, proving Israel’s genocidal intent.
Particularly the most recent UN report (“More than a human can bear: Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence since 7 October 2023”), which goes right to the heart of the matter: Israel’s wilful annihilation of the Palestinian “seed bank”.
We have yet to hear you condemn Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire agreement and its criminal methods of continued extermination. We have yet to see you pull out of the perpetual war machine. We are still waiting for you to hold Israel accountable for its illegal occupation, apartheid and genocide.
Instead we see sycophancy to the warmongering bullies, and continued impunity for a rogue state. Under these circumstances how can voting for Labor be an option?
Something to keep in the forefront of your mind and conscience.
Jepke Goudsmit
Jepke Goudsmit is a theatre maker. Since 1985 she has been co-director of Kinetic Energy Theatre Company. Since 2004 the company has focused on social justice and human rights issues through theatre-in-education.