"We are all Palestinians" - Jewish speaker at Melbourne Gaza Protest

Melbourne protest 18 January 2009 - A Speech by Dr. Peter Slezak, an academic philosopher and member of Independent Australian Jewish Voices against Israel's massacre In Gaza. More information: Independent Australian Jewish Voices which includes a media statement 5 Jan 2009 signed by over 200 Australian Jews against the Israeli assault on Gaza.
http://www.iajv.org/

Organisers estimated 12,000 people gathered at the State Library of Victoria in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and protest Israel's assault and massacre on Gaza. Latest reports, 22 days after the launch of the savage and brutal military offensive, say that more than 1200 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 400 children. At least a further 5220 people had been injured.

Other speakers included South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, former Democrats leader Lyn Allison, Australian Council of Trade Unions international director Alison Tate, a representatives from the Uniting Church, Church of England and cartoonist Michael Leunig.

Find below some excerpts from the speech by the Jewish Speaker outside the State Library:

"Express our solidarity with the people of Gaza. Their desperate plight today comes on top of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis already caused by 2 years of Israeli blockade. And this is on top of sixty years of Palestinian suffering, their dispossession that An Israeli historian [****] has called ethnic cleansing and a brutal military occupation for forty years."

"We have an obligation to turn our moral concern into meaningful action because it is here in the west that the fate of Palestine is decided. We must find ways to counter the barrage of deceit that prevents people from understanding what is going on and reacting to it as human beings. History is being rewritten even as it happens."

"Let me wind up with one final remark. The Nazis made Jews wear a yellow Star of David to stigmatise them and persecute them, and I grew up with an immensely moving image of other people, not Jews, like the King of DEnmark and other people who showed their humanity by wearing the yellow star to symbolise their solidarity with the Jewish victims of persecution. This is the spirit in which I am wearing a Palestinian badge today and the spirit in which many Jews and others around the world send to the Palestinians."

"....right now we are all Palestinians".

For more information on protests in Melbourne see the Justice for Palestine website:
http://justiceforpalestine.org/

See Photos of the rally and march at my flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takver/sets/72157611885793346/

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Melbourne
• protest
• Gaza
• Palestine
• Israel
• Jew
• Jewish
• 20090118
• massacre
• Peter
• Slezak

[tigereyz5555]

Gotta love the good Jews who are courageous enough to stand up against the crimes of the Zionists in the Middle East, US and around the world. In the end we are all human beings.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

[takvera]

So true. Martin Luther King was a great speaker and statesman.

[kom58]

This exposes the slander that Israel's opponents are anti-semitic. Great to se that more jews are coimng out against Israel's barbarity.

[krikoshell08]

prophet nohamed made business with jews, his neighbor was jew

muslims and jews always lived together

we have no problem with jews

but our vital problem is with zionist

[ManFromMelbourne]

Great speech. Great man.

[lozoft9]

This accusation of Palestinians as an inherently racist people is bogus. When the Goldstone report came out, Gazans were celebrating and saying stuff like "god bless our brother Goldstone" and all other related epithets. They even roll out the red carpet for Anna Baltzer.

[esh325]

Just let the Israels Palestinians kill each other. You support either side and you'll get burned. We should just pretend neither side exsists and we'll all be happier people.

[Celtic450]

What a Kapo.

[huseinkerkuk]

the Israel killed Palestine like Hitler killed jaws in Europe.

[a717575]

@krikoshell08 200% agree the problem is with Zionism which cane be anyone, us government, Israeli goverment , right down to the as much as this upsets me the Saudi government.

in 63 BC Romans conquered Israel and called it Palestine.. the real israeli are Palestinians.

[wind4watts]

Israelis Child-Civilian Murders-War Crimes have (unfortunately) given Ordinary-Good Jews a VERY bad name, Men-Women  like this and Professor Norman Finkelstein look find-see the Truth-Barbarity Israel commit with US Tax $ and are Brave enough to speak their minds EXCELLENT TO SEE!

[mdiker12]

I am NOT Palestinians, I am Israeli!

Long live Israel, Long live democracy, long live peace