We strongly support this statement by ACIJ and the campaign by Australia Palestine Advocacy Network asking why the Australian government is interfering in the recently announced International Criminal Court case. You can write to your federal MP here.
Media Release: Australian Government attempts to block ICC Palestine investigation
The decision by the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to pursue war crimes investigations into Israel’s actions against Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip is welcomed by BDS Australia.
Bensouda’s statement that, “I am satisfied that (i) war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip (“Gaza”) (ii) potential cases arising from the situation would be admissible; and (iii) there are no substantial reasons to believe that an investigation would not serve the interests of justice”, comes after the Court had been presented with extensive documentation over five years to support such an investigation.
Greg Barns, criminal barrister and former National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance states:
“The ICC and the Rome Statute that governs it is supported by Australia. Therefore it would be hypocritical if Australian politicians did not support the ICC in its further work on Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians.
“The ICC decision should be supported by all Australians who oppose the apartheid policies of Israel.
Associate Professor Jake Lynch, Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney and Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Coventry University, 2019-20 says:
“The ICC announcement finally opens the door to justice for the Palestinians, after decades of dispossession and oppression by the Israeli military security state. It comes as revulsion at Israel’s excesses, and support for remedial action, is growing among concerned peoples around the world.
BDS Australia’s Hilmi Dabbagh says:
“This is the first step towards accountability for decades of grave crimes against Palestinians and we commend the ICC for finally taking steps to bring justice to so many and to shine a light on these ongoing crimes which must be stopped by the international community.
Further information:
ICC decision
BDS Australia condemns the recent violence against students and human rights defenders at York University in Canada. BDS Australia is a coalition of 12 Australian pro-Palestine associations, dedicated to informing and raising awareness in the Australian community in support of a just peace for the Palestinian people.
On 20 November 2019, Canadian human rights activists, students and others were protesting against the presence of former and current Israeli soldiers at York University’s Toronto campus when members of the Israeli lobby violently attacked and assaulted them. The Israeli soldiers were brought to campus by the right-wing Canadian branch of the Israeli organization called Herut. The students protested peacefully and we understand they were assaulted by the members of Jewish Defence League while the university security and police failed to protect them.
BDS Australia stands with activists from Canada and elsewhere internationally to unconditionally reject the assertion that protesting Israeli apartheid and Israeli violations of human rights and international law in relation to Palestine, is antisemitic.
We stand in solidarity with the Canadian students, staff, and others including progressive Jewish Israelis in the struggle against Israeli apartheid and Israel’s ongoing grave violations of international law.
We note that bogus claims of antisemitism against supporters of free and equal rights in international law for all Palestinians are disingenuous and a cynical attempt to discredit the ongoing international condemnation of Israel for its longstanding brutal and illegal colonization of Palestinian land and, oppression of Palestinians.
Signed by BDS Australia committee
A presentation by the renowned Palestinian writer, scholar and commentator, Dr Abu Sitta in Sydney whose work has meticulously documented the Palestinian Nakba.
What: BDS for the Right of Return – Why?
When: Wednesday October 9, 6.45pm-8pm
Where: Redfern Town Hall.
GET TICKETS NOW HERE
Full price – $10
Concession – $7
Dr Abu Sitta is an author, scholar and commentator. He has meticulously documented the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe). No-one can speak more authoritatively than he on that momentous event’s impact on the Palestinian people, nor on how to remedy the more than 70 years of the dispossession of their lands and the loss of their rights to self-determination and freedom.
Salman Abu Sitta was born in Palestine in 1937, not far from Beersheba. As a schoolboy when Israel was established in 1948, he was forced, with his family, to move from home to the Gaza Strip. He was educated in Palestine, Cairo and (at university) in London. Abu Sitta is a former member of the Palestinian National Council, the general coordinator of the Right of Return Congress. Abu Sitta is also the founder and President of the Palestine Land Society, London, dedicated to the documentation of Palestine’s land and people. Website www.plands.org.
He is the author of six books on Palestine including the compendium Atlas of Palestine 1917- 1966, English and Arabic editions, the Atlas of the Return Journey in Arabic, English and Hebrew and over 300 papers and articles on the Palestinian refugees, the Right of Return, history of al Nakba and human rights.
His most well known book is the “Mapping my Return: A Palestinian Memoir” which had strong reviews internationally. Dr Abu Sitta is active in many academic, legal and human rights groups.
Wednesday 28 August – Wednesday 4 September is our first national week of action to encourage consumers face-to-face not to buy HP products (laptops, scanners, printers and ink) while HP technology underpins Israeli occupation and apartheid. All are welcome to help out leafleting shoppers and passers by.
Events confirmed so far include:
Friday 30 August in Melbourne, 1-5pm in Bourke St Mall, outside the GPO
Friday 30 August in Adelaide, 6-7:30pm outside JB Hi-Fi in Rundle Mall
Saturday 31 August in Sydney, 1-3pm outside JB Hi-Fi, 37 George St, Parramatta
Saturday 31 August in Melbourne, 1-5pm in Bourke St Mall, outside the GPO
Tuesday 3 September in Adelaide, 12-1:30pm outside JB Hi-Fi in Rundle Mall
Wednesday 4 September in Sydney, 11am-1pm outside Officeworks, 1 Ross St (corner Parramatta Rd), Glebe – opposite Sydney University
For more information, including for leaflets to organise your own event, email [email protected]