Below is an slightly abridged speech by Janet Parker from Jews For Palestine (J4P) which she delivered outside the United States Consulate in Western Australia on May 23.
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We are here in solidarity with the people of Palestine 鈥 a people who have experienced mass cultural erasure, land theft and colonisation and for whom 聽the genocide continues.
We are here at this edifice of the US empire because we are devastated and furious about Israel enacting its very own 鈥渇inal solution鈥 on the beleaguered people of Palestine. I, as a J4P member, use that term very deliberately because we consider that the actions of the Israeli state over the last 18 months constitute a holocaust; one which is reaching a horrifying crescendo.
But while we鈥檝e chosen to rally at the US Consulate today, our demand falls equally on the US and the Australian government which, in their silence and through their maintenance of bilateral military ties, are as complicit as murderous, and as shameful as the Trump administration.
For three months, the Israeli government has blocked all aid to Gaza, starving the more than 2 two million Palestinians, trapped there.
They have now said they will let minimal aid in, deploying its own private contractors to distribute what little aid it allows in.聽 Palestinians would be forced to navigate military checkpoints and an oppressive security vetting process, including facial recognition scans, before being able to collect food and medicine.
Netanyahu admitted it was only for appearances鈥 sake.
His government recognises that mass starvation and the global outcry it is prompting could get in the way of his goal to take all of Gaza.聽 So simultaneously, we鈥檝e seen Israel escalate. They鈥檝e called it Operation 鈥淕ideon鈥檚 Chariots,鈥 after the biblical figure who led a 鈥渄ivinely sanctioned massacre鈥.
This is a vicious air assault and full-scale ground invasion that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands in a matter of days.
Those not killed by bombs and snipers are in famine. Across Gaza, Palestinians are being starved to death. We鈥檝e all seen the grim warning that came from the United Nations earlier this week that at least 14,000 infants will die in a matter of days if more aid is not made available.
For the first time in 18 months, we鈥檝e seen Britain, France and Canada start to make noises about sanctions. This hasn鈥檛 meant anything much in real terms; no sanctions have been imposed.
Many pro-Palestine commentators describe this as a kind of theatre, orchestrated to give Netanyahu enough space to finish the job of emptying Gaza of its inhabitants while not tarnishing the West too much in the process.
We have no illusion that they鈥檝e suddenly evolved a conscience. Rather, they feared they would be judged if they were not seen to be saying something.
and others warn us not to be fooled by their empty statements. 鈥淭he aim of Starmer, Macron and Carney is to craft a new narrative, in which they claim to have only belatedly realised that Netanyahu has 鈥榞one too far鈥 and that he needs to be reined in. They can then gradually up the noise against the Israeli prime minister, lobby Israel to change tack, and, when it resists or demurs, be seen to press Washington for 鈥榗oncrete action鈥.鈥
They signed a joint statement calling for Israel to allow more aid in but made no suggestion or threat of sanctions. Words, more words.
And what game is our own government playing? The same it has for the last 18 months. Labor is totally complicit in the genocidal war being waged on the Palestinian peoples and we will not rest until it takes real action to end all military and diplomatic ties, and sanction Israel.
Our job is to make this happen.
Whatever the motives of the Western leaders and establishment now finally calling out Israel鈥檚 actions, it does help shift the narrative in the communities and on the streets. People are talking about the tide turning; our job is to turn that turning tide into a tsunami!
We must energetically, and with determination, tap into this new wave of shock, anger and frustration to build the biggest, most powerful response we can toforce this government to act.
They won鈥檛 be convinced by the moral strength of our arguments. They will have to be forced by community pressure.
Our call must be for action, not words.
Boycott, divest and sanction!
Free, free Palestine!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!