The 47th consecutive week of protests against Israel’s genocide took place after Israel launched a new invasion of the Palestinian West Bank on August 28.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed on the first day of what Al Jazeera described as Israel’s “largest assault [on the West Bank] in two decades”. More have since been killed.
The assault targeted the Jenin refugee camp — the site of a 2002 massacre by Israel — and involved cutting off food and water, besieging the main hospital, firing on paramedics and journalists, aerial bombings, and major damage to civilian infrastructure.
Electronic Intifada reported that “Israeli forces shot and killed 82-year-old Tawfiq Ahmad Qandil in Jenin, and then opened fire on the ambulance that came to aid him”.
The artistic director at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp, Ahmed Tobasi, told Democracy Now on August 29 that “they [Israel] want Palestine empty from Palestinians” and that “the people in the [refugee] camp are really afraid that [what happened in Gaza is] going to happen to them”.
Riley Breen reports that Friends of Palestine WA (FOPWA) called a snap rally in Boorloo/Perth on August 31 in response to the attacks on the West Bank.
boorlooperthrally31-8-24byrileybreen.jpeg
Sophie McNeil spoke about the brutality of the attacks that haven't been seen since 2002. Other speakers at the 300-strong rally included a member of Students for Palestine and a Palestinian from the West Bank.
The action demanded Australia “impose an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel and urge other states to do the same; break diplomatic ties with Israel, including expelling the Israeli ambassador from Canberra and recalling Australia's ambassador in Tel Aviv; ban entry to Australia from all Israeli government representatives and illegal settlers guilty of war crimes; and impose trade sanctions on Israel, beginning with a complete ban on the import of all products made in illegal Israeli settlements”.
The next FOPWA rally will be on September 14.
marching1-9-24bychloeds.jpeg
Israel’s assault on the West Bank was also taken up at the September 1 rally in Naarm/Melbourne.
Jordan AK reports that Palestinian-Irish writer, illustrator, environmental educator and community art therapist, Sophia Sabbagh spoke about the escalating violence, dispossession and displacement in West Bank, which has worsened since October 7.
She referred to a post on X by the Israeli foreign minister, made earlier in the week, calling for ever-more extreme violence in the West Bank. “This is a war for everything and we must win it,” it said.
“Israel is using strategies in the West Bank that they have been using to commit genocide in Gaza,” Sabbagh said.
“Israel wants to accelerate genocide in the West Bank while the world's eyes are on Gaza, with over 600 killed and thousands injured in the West Bank since October [2023].”
Sabbagh pointed out that Hamas has never governed in the West Bank and that Israel’s latest assault is “more evidence” that “this war on Palestinians is about taking land and resources, rather than about fighting Hamas”.
The rally — attended by thousands of people — emphasised the interconnectedness of the fight for Palestinian liberation with other struggles, including for workers’ rights, climate justice and refugees.
Zane Alcorn, a member of Socialist Alliance and rank-and-file Construction Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) member of 10-years, spoke on behalf of the recently-formed community-union solidarity group Defend the Unions – Defend the CFMEU.
Referring to Labor’s attacks on the CFMEU, Alcorn said: “This is not about bikies and it is not about criminality: it is about smashing the strongest union to make sure the massive, and growing, gap between the tiny super rich minority and the workers keeps getting bigger even when millions of workers can barely afford their mortgage or rent.”
“You want to find the criminals, Labor? Look in the mirror,” Alcorn said. “I'm pretty sure being an accessory to genocide and shipping weapons components to Israel in the middle of mass murder of civilians is a bit more serious than any crime any CFMEU member is accused of.”
He pointed out that a victory for the CFMEU against Labor’s anti-union laws locally, like a victory for Palestine internationally, will “energise progressive politics”.
moreinjusticeanywhere1-9-24byjordanak.jpeg
Rathy Barthlote, co-founder of Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality, also spoke and expressed solidarity with Palestinians. “As a Tamil who fled the genocide in Sri Lanka, I know all to well what it is like to be targeted for who you are.”
She pointed out that the Australian government supported the Sri Lankan regime at that time and “deported thousands of Tamil refugees to face danger”.
“Those of us allowed to stay were denied visas by the Labor government, then the Liberal government who imposed the brutal the fast-track program, keeping us in limbo for over a decade.”
Tamil refugees are still denied the security of a permanent visa 12 years later, she told the crowd.
Barthlote spoke about Mano Yogalingam, who died after self-immolating just days earlier, and called for permanent visas for all refugees “including to those who are fleeing Palestine”.
The September 1 rally in Gadigal Country/Sydney involved a Fathers’ Day commemoration.
Peter Boyle reports that protesters pointed out that Father’s Day is a nightmare in Palestine, that won't stop until Australia and other rich Western states stop arming Israel.
fatherofpalestine1-9-24bypeterboyle.jpg
“We remember Palestinian fathers who have been torn in pieces, slaughtered in cold blood,” one speaker said. She pointed out that fathers in Palestine are “picking up their children in pieces, weighing their body parts of their children”.
“This terror and violence has been imposed by the terror state of Israel,” she said, “and supported and funded by the Western governments including the murderous and genocidal Australian government”.
caltex1-9-24byjordanellis.jpg
In Kaurna Yerta/Adelaide, pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Caltex on West Terrace on September 1, Jordan Ellis reports.
The action drew attention to how Caltex (owned by Chevron) is profiting from the Palestinian genocide. Chevron runs natural gas extraction pipelines off the shore of Palestine, making it a major partner in the illegal exploitation of Palestinian natural resources. Chevron’s extraction activities generate billions of dollars in revenue for apartheid Israel and its war cabinet.
Chevron also supports Israel’s lobbying efforts for the construction of the Eastmed Pipeline, a massive European Union-sponsored fossil fuel project, that would exacerbate the global climate crisis.
The protest called on people to boycott Caltex.
Three hundred people turned out on September 1 in Magan-djin/Brisbane to help launch the campaign of leading Palestinian activist Remah Naji, who is contesting the federal seat of Moreton.
Activists in Kombumerri/Gold Coast rallied on August 31. The action expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine and highlighted the ongoing complicity of the local council with apartheid Israel.
Justice for Palestine was discussed at the Drinks for Humanity in Djilang/Geelong on September 1.
voteforpalestine1-9-24byalexbainbridge.jpg
resist1-9-24bypeterboyle.jpg
fathersdaynightmare1-9-24bypeterboyle.jpg
fromrivertosea1-9-24byjordanak.jpeg
