Writing on the heels of Stuart Rees’s recent article in P&I, A Plea for Gaza: ‘Remember humanity & forget the rest’, and as a participant in last Wednesday’s Gaza plea for humanity event at Parliament House, Canberra, I’d like to commend Stuart for his leadership, courage and tireless efforts to bring peace with justice to the Palestinian people.
Last week’s gathering was yet another call for compassion, respect and care for the beleaguered people of Palestine, indeed for all beings. Without this we risk sliding into endless cycles of barbarism and chaos, which is exactly what we have right now in the Middle East.
With his legendary political energy, Rees brought together a powerful collection of campaigners, including a number of Palestinians, who urged the Australian government to formally recognise Palestine, expel the Israeli ambassador and recall ours, unequivocally support the ICJ rulings, and ban weapons exports to Israel. In light of recent events, these demands seem more than reasonable.
And yet, despite the ICJ’s recent call for Israel to urgently guarantee the delivery of desperately-needed aid to starving Gazans, and the UN assembly having passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire, Israel continues its relentless assault on Gaza and the West Bank. Israel’s main backer, the US,........