Silent Vigil for Palestine 
Every morning, I switch on my computer and find myself reading and viewing images of yet another genocidal massacre committed by the Israeli military against the almost-defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza strip. The victims, as always, are mostly women and children. Our complicit media dutifully reports that these are “precision” attacks aimed at Hamas “command and control centres”. Quite how Hamas militants are detected amongst the tents housing tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians is never explained. But that seems not to matter. Quite how a “ precision” attack leaves craters that are ten metres deep and twenty metres wide is not explained. But it doesn’t seem to matter. It’s all the fault of Hamas, and the 41,000 dead, the 100,000 wounded and the many thousands dead under the rubble of their homes are just collateral damage in the so-called war against terror.
It is reported that your rhetoric about Israel’s genocide has become stronger in recent times. What difference does that make on the ground? How many Palestinian lives have been saved by your slightly-more stern language?
None at all, of course, and you know that to be true.
What will it take for our government to stand up to the Israel lobby and finally take serious action to bring pressure on the Israeli government to cease its onslaught on the Palestinian people? It is long past time for the government to condemn unequivocally the death and destruction committed by the Israelis, and to take all practical steps available, including ending all trade links, to make it abundantly clear that Australia will no longer be complicit in Israeli war crimes. The government should be supporting the rulings of the ICJ and the millions of people in the community, including members of the Jewish community, who are calling for an end to the brutal erasure of Palestinian lives.
Yours sincerely
Mike G.
Valla Beach
13th September 2024
Dear Minister Burke,
Please find enclosed an open letter to one of your predecessors, signed by 403 visitors to our local Rural Australians for Refugees market stall. The letter reads:
Dear
Minister Giles,
We note
with dismay the ever-increasing number of asylum seekers detained on Nauru. We
note also that the government plans to spend $604 million in 2024-25 to keep
these people out of sight and out of mind. Has the government learned nothing
from more than a decade of the appalling mistreatment of asylum seekers?
We call
on you to:
As the new Minister for immigration, we ask you to take urgent action to resolve this unfolding humanitarian disaster. We know from bitter experience that offshore detention does great harm to those indefinitely detained. We surely cannot go on repeating the tragic mistakes of the past.
Minister Burke
I look forward to receiving your response in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Mike G, Valla Beach NSW 2448
We had a very good market in Valla Beach on Saturday 3rd August. Lots of positive interactions with market-goers, who signed our open letter about the plight of asylum seekers on Nauru. We also took over $130 in sales and donations, and signed up several new members.
It’s worth noting that, on the same day, we donated $2,000 to the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown following our successful fundraiser a week earlier in Nambucca Heads.
FUNDRAISING FEAST AND AUCTION
12.30 - Sunday 1 September
Mylestom Hall
You are invited to a three course Italian meal
prepared by the Sawtell Wonderchefs Ton, Chris and Mart
$50.00 pp
Includes Drinks and $10 worth of Raffle tickets
Followed by an auction of goods: art work, jewellery, small household items, stays at Airbnb, treasures, and surprises.
All proceeds to the Asylum Seekers Centre
Newtown, Sydney
Bookings necessary – contact Margaret and Georgina
Bellingen Nambucca Rural Australians for Refugees
(The artwork is a large Bali Kamasan painting on canvas and is in beautiful condition. It measures 1200mm X 1050MM. A valuable collectors’ piece.)
The world rejoiced at the weekend following news of the release of four Israeli hostages. It was clearly, and rightly, a moment of joy for both the hostages and their families following the trauma of their captivity.
There was, predictably, much less coverage in the mainstream media about the massacre of some 270 Palestinians, the wounding of hundreds more and the widespread destruction of the Nuseirat refugee camp, an action described as a “diversionary tactic” by the IDF. Hamas, of course, is to blame for it all.
In the TV footage of the freed hostages, it seems clear that, in spite of their ordeal at the hands of the “terrorists”, they looked remarkably well. It’s not unreasonable to conclude that they had been well cared for by their captors, at a time when the people of Gaza are starving and subject to daily bombings and displacement.
If the TV footage is a reliable indication of the experience of these four hostages, then this stands in stark contrast with the treatment of Palestinian captives at the hands of “the most moral army in the world”.
Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, the head of orthopedics at the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, died in Ofer prison on 19th April after being tortured by the IDF.
Released Palestinian prisoners have been reported to bear visible signs of physical torture.
Sixteen Palestinians are confirmed to have died as a result of their mistreatment in Israeli prisons in recent months, though the actual number is considered to be much higher.
Many bodies have been exhumed from shallow graves in hospital grounds. The dead were blindfolded and handcuffed, and had clearly been executed by the IDF.
Many Palestinians are being held in harsh conditions in the Negev, and there are credible reports of regular torture at the hands of the IDF.
So, who are the terrorists here?
The answer of course, has been hiding in plain sight since 1948.
For how much longer will the Australian government sit on the fence and defend its “ally”?
The actions of the Israeli government are indefensible, and it’s time to hold them to account for the dispossession, displacement and erasure of the Palestinian people.
What will it take for the Australian government to finally demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the brutal and unlawful occupation of the West Bank?
Mike G., Valla Beach
Friday, June 7
To: 'senator.wong@aph.gov.au' <senator.wong@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Gaza
Both Labor and the Coalition have spent a great deal of time this week condemning the words and the actions of the Greens in relation to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Labor seems to believe that it’s more important to condemn pro-Palestinian actions across our communities than it is to scrutinize and respond to the events in Gaza. Let’s just think about that for a moment:
The people of Gaza, and the Australian community, including the Jewish community, would be much better served if the government were to focus on the terrible suffering and death being inflicted on the people of Gaza rather than the shameful political distraction of this week’s events in parliament. If the government were serious about Israel’s genocidal actions over many months, if the government had but a shred of humanity and compassion, then it would have imposed sanctions on the Israeli government months ago.
Whilst politicians posture in parliament, the people of Gaza are being massacred.
It's beyond time for serious action, not political point-scoring.
Mike Griffin
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach NSW 2448
Dear Minister Giles,
Watching Senates Estimates this week, I was dismayed to learn that more that 3,000 Palestinians who were seeking to flee the Israeli onslaught in Gaza have had their visa applications rejected. Technically, of course, this is hardly surprising, given that they had only been offered the option of applying for six-month tourist visas.
Is it perhaps that the Palestinians are brown-skinned and mostly Muslim? Are there influential lobby groups who are intent on keeping Palestinians out of Australia?
This clear discrimination against the Palestinians, who are experiencing a genocide at the hands of the Israelis, and who urgently need our compassion and genuine support, is truly shameful.
I call on you to urgently review your policy in relation to visas for Palestinians. Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and the population is facing starvation. You know all this.
Please do the right thing and act urgently to issue 3-year visas to Palestinians, as you did to Ukrainians.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Griffin
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach, NSW 2448Please find enclosed an open letter, addressed to you, and signed by 246 people who visited or market stall in recent times. The letter reads:
We were greatly encouraged by the High Court Ruling that holding people in indefinite detention once they have served their prison term is unlawful. Your reaction to that decision that, if you had your way “they would all be back behind bars tomorrow”, was truly shocking.
Undoubtedly, some of these people had committed serious crimes. But they had served their sentences, and, just like other criminals, should have been released.
The recent legislation, rushed through Parliament in the wake of the High Court decision, and driven by the Leader of the Opposition and his friends in the media, highlights once again that our political leaders seem only too willing to scapegoat and demonise asylum seekers in an unseemly battle for votes. You know that you will never satisfy the Opposition by trying to appease them. It only emboldens them to sink lower.
We sincerely hope that this failure to act with integrity and principle is not a taste of what lies ahead as we approach the next federal election.
It is deeply depressing to note that, since the above letter was written, the Labor government has continued to pursue a punitive and destructive agenda in relation to asylum seekers and refugees. The current legislation before parliament is a shameful abnegation of the government’s responsibilities to the human rights of people held in detention.
You need to do better. Much better.
Yours sincerely,
Mike Griffin
Bellingen and Nambucca District Rural Australians for Refugees.
Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 3:48 PM
To: 'clare.oneil.mp@aph.gov.au' <clare.oneil.mp@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Nauru
Dear Minister O’Neil,
With the recent transfer of ten Chinese nationals to Nauru, my understanding is that there are now 64 detainees on the island. Some of them have been there for six months.
When in opposition, the Labor party often, and rightly, complained about the secrecy and lack of transparency relating to the plight of asylum seekers on Nauru. Yet, in government, you have adopted the Coalition’s policy of keeping the public in the dark, in the hope, presumably, that out of sight is out of mind.
Has your government learned nothing from the tragedies of a decade of offshore detention?
The current situation raises a number of questions, which need to be answered:
I would be grateful for an early response.
Yours sincerely,
Mike G.....
"Our fortnightly roadside demonstrations for the Palestinian people of Gaza continue to attract a lot of RAR supporters. It has been particularly heartening to see a number of new, younger members turning up to remind the public of the terrible situation in the Gaza strip. Western nations continue to wring their hands, to admonish the Israelis about the civilian death toll, whilst sending them more weapons to continue the killing of innocent Palestinians.
One of our placards reminds the public that at least 200 aid workers have been killed by Israeli forces in the past six months. Almost 200 of them were Palestinians, so their deaths attracted little attention, and certainly no outrage." Mike
The powerful documentary, filmed recently in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Israel by Australian film makers John Reynolds and Jill Hickson, ‘depicts Palestinian life under military occupation’ and sets out the aspirations of Palestinians for self-determination.
‘Palestine Under Siege’ seeks to explain the background to the history of Palestinian displacement and dispossession through a series of interviews with survivors of the 1948 Nakba, and with prominent Palestinian and Israeli leaders.
They include Dr Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian politician and winner of the 2003 Australia Peace Prize, and Jeff Halper, Director of the Israel Committee Against Home Demolitions.
The film is being promoted locally by the Bellingen and Nambucca District Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) group.
“Many RAR groups around Australia have been campaigning for months for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” group spokesperson Mike Griffin explained.
“History tells us that violence does not solve the problems of the world. “Instead, it leads to unbelievable suffering and the displacement of millions of people.
“If there is to be peace in the Middle East, then there has to be a just settlement for the Palestinian people.”
The film will be shown at the Bellingen Memorial Hall at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 20 March, and at the Cavanbah Centre, Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour on Saturday 23 March at 7.30 pm.
There will be a Q and A session following the screenings.
Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://linktr.ee/rarmnc or by phoning 6569 5419.
Subject: Gaza Genocide
Dear Senator Dreyfus,
The genocide against the Palestinians continues apace. The ICJ’s directions to the Israeli government have been, and continue to be, completely ignored. More than 31,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children , have been killed, and now starvation is being used as a weapon of war.
There are more than 2,000 aid trucks sitting on the Gaza border, waiting to enter, but prevented from doing so by the Israeli military. Instead, we have the almost useless airdrops, designed to create a photo opportunity for the US administration as Biden struggles in the polls. And now we have the prospect of a floating harbour, predicted to take two months to assemble, by which time many more people, most of them vulnerable children, will have starved to death. Already, in the first ten days of March, 25 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration. The international aid agencies are unanimous in their calls for the border crossings to be opened, and for aid to be allowed in. They are rightly very sceptical about the effectiveness of air drops or a pontoon that will deliver too little, too late. But Biden has to look as if he is doing something positive, whilst continuing to supply Netanyaha with weapons and diplomatic cover, whilst Australia looks on, remaining mostly silent. The Australian government has had nothing to say about the ICJ’s directions.
When will the Us and its allies, which include Australia, DEMAND that this genocide must end? Why has your government not called in the Israeli ambassador, and made it clear that the government will no longer support Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip?
It’s time for effective action, not words. That means a permanent ceasefire, NOW.
I’m reminded of a placard that I saw at a recent demonstration for the people of Gaza:
“You know what else died in Gaza? The myth of Western democracy and humanity”. I think that statement sums it up well.
Mike XXXXXXX
Dear Senator Wong,
The situation in the Gaza Strip gets wore by the day. We now learn that some 2,000 aid trucks are stuck in Egypt and are being prevented from crossing into Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini reports that Israel has not allowed food to be delivered to Northern Gaza since January 25th. Starving the population is a war crime. Collective punishment is a war crime.
Will the Australian government ever call the Israeli government to account? This genocide should be condemned unequivocally. It’s past time to summon the Israeli ambassador and demand that his government agrees to an immediate ceasefire.
The Australian government’s silence on the question of genocide renders it complicit in the crime.
Mike G To: 'bill.shorten.mp@aph.gov.au' <bill.shorten.mp@aph.gov.au>
Subject:
Dear Minister Shorten,
I listened with interest to your interview on RN yesterday. As with every politician I have listened to, you were very strong in your support for Israel, and very strong in your (utterly proper) condemnation of the Hamas attack on 7th October, but, as for the plight of the Palestinians, that seems not to matter too much. Like many politicians, you would have us believe that this all started just a few months ago, but, as the Secretary General of the United Nations has pointed out, the events of 7th October did not take place in a vacuum. The Israeli government, predictably, demanded his immediate resignation.
Unless and until the Western world accepts that the current situation – one of displacement, dispossession and slaughter of the Palestinians – which has been ongoing since the Nakba of 1948 -is untenable, in contravention of international law, and therefore must be seriously addressed, then nothing will change.
You rightly condemned the steep rise in antisemitism in recent months. Sadly, and perhaps inevitably, people see what is going on in Gaza, associate the Israelis with the Jewish people, and react accordingly. If we are to reduce/ eliminate the evil of antisemitism, then it is important to address with honesty and principle the present genocidal actions of the Israeli apartheid government, which has so far killed or wounded more than 100,000 Gazans, most of them women and children.
It is beyond time for the Australian government to condemn the actions of the Israeli military, to demand an immediate ceasefire, and to make it clear to the Israelis that failure to comply will have serious consequences.
The Australian government should not be complicit in this genocide.
Mike G
Dear Senator Wong,
I watched your interview with Sarah Ferguson on 7.30 yesterday evening with increasing dismay. You were understandably and visibly struggling to defend the indefensible in relation to your decision to withhold funding from UNRWA with such lightning speed following the Israeli allegations about UNRWA employees’ involvement in the events of 7th October. Unsurprisingly, these allegations were published just hours after the very serious findings of the ICJ in relation to the unfolding genocide and lack of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The ensuing media blitz has ensured that it is the UNWRA story, and not the far more serious findings of the ICJ, that has dominated the headlines and that has worked well , in propaganda terms, for the Israelis and its steadfast supporters, including the Australian government.
Will the government, of which you are a senior and respected member, ever muster the moral courage to finally take a principled stance in relation to the death and destruction being inflicted on the Palestinian people by the far-right Netanyahu government?
Will there ever come a point at which the international community, which includes Australia, will insist on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the illegal military occupation of the West Bank?
Will Western nations ever call time on the enduring suffering of the Palestinian people and finally insist that Israel complies with international law and countless UN resolutions?
The Palestinian people have endured 75 years of displacement, occupation and oppression at the hands of the Zionist colonisers.
Your frequent statements about the ongoing Israeli actions in Gaza and in the West Bank give me little cause for optimism.
Mike G
To: 'senator.wong@aph.gov.au' <senator.wong@aph.gov.au>
Subject: UNRWA
Dear Senator Wong,
If I, as a high school principal, discovered that a member of my staff was grooming and sexually exploiting a teenage student, I would immediately suspend him and inform the police. The teacher would be arrested, investigated and would eventually face the court. The school would be investigated to ensure that all procedures to protect students were in place and had been followed.
In no circumstances would the Education Department punish all the staff and students by withdrawing the school’s funding.
It simply beggars belief that the Australian government should decide to withhold funding from UNRWA at a time when the Palestinian people of Gaza are facing starvation.
The Israeli anti-UNRWA agenda should be ignored. The funding should be immediately reinstated.
Mike G
<senator.wong@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Gaza
Dear Senator Wong,
According to UNICEF, Gaza is “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.” A recent OXFAM press release states: “It is unimaginable that the international community is watching the deadliest rate of conflict of the 21st Century unfold, whilst continuously blocking calls for a ceasefire.”
Every day that a ceasefire is not implemented means more deaths, more destruction and more despair for the Palestinians of Gaza.
It is not enough to call for a “sustainable” or a “ humanitarian” ceasefire.
The people of Gaza need a permanent ceasefire NOW, and it is surely the responsibility of the Australian government to unequivocally demand just that. No less.
Mike
To: 'senator.dreyfus@aph.gov.au' <senator.dreyfus@aph.gov.au>
Subject: South Africa's submission to ICJ
Dear Senator Dreyfus,
Like many Australians, I am deeply concerned about the government’s silence in relation to the South African government’s recent submission to the IJC, which clearly and unequivocally sets out the charge of genocide in relation to the Israel government’s onslaught against the Palestinian population of Gaza. The South African government’s submission is very detailed, well documented and rooted in an examination of the facts on the ground. Put that together with daily reports of the relentless bombing and shelling of the Gaza Strip, the mounting death toll, the forced displacement of people towards the border with Egypt, the deliberate targeting of civilians, hospitals, schools, UNRWA facilities, and civil infrastructure, then it seems impossible not to conclude that the Israelis are committed to a strategy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Israelis can no longer pretend, and nor should its faithful allies in the West, that its response to the 7th October attack on its territory by Hamas militants is a proportionate military response. It is not. This is all part of an ongoing strategy of discrimination, oppression and displacement of the Palestinians since the Nakba of 1948.
Australia is a sovereign nation. We should not follow slavishly in the footsteps of the US, as we have so often in the past, and always with terrible consequences. Nor should we allow ourselves to be lured into the trap that seeks to conflate anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiment with antisemitism.
Australia is a signatory to the UN Genocide Convention. Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip clearly contravene the Convention, and I therefore urge the Government to support the South African submission.
Mike #####
Dear Senator Plibersek,
The reports from Israel about the Netanyahu government’s intentions for the future of the Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza strip are increasingly alarming.
Ministers in the Netanyahu government are now talking openly about the plan to drive out the Palestinian people and replace them with Israelis and Jewish colonists. The Agriculture Minister, Avi Dichter, boasts that: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. Gaza Nakba 2023. That’s how it will end”. Netanyahu has told his party that the DRC is prepared to accept Palestinians, and that there are active discussions taking place with other countries.
Will the Australian government and the US finally draw a red line in the sand and make it clear to the Israelis that removing the Palestinian people from Gaza, under whatever pretext, simply cannot, and will not happen?
Let us be quite clear. Bombing the Gazans out of their homes, starving them, denying them medical aid and forcing them to mass on the Egyptian border so that, finally, they will leave “voluntarily” – which is clearly the Israeli strategy- will not be permitted by the international community.
It is well beyond time to call out and put an end to this genocide. Israel must be held to account for its war crimes, and the Australian government should not continue to sit on the fence.
Mike
To: 'senator.wong@aph.gov.au' <senator.wong@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Palestine
Dear Senator Wong,
This is not a happy New Year for the Palestinian people of Gaza or the West Bank.
We now know that more than 80% of northern Gaza – homes, schools, hospitals, infrastructure, UNRWA facilities, mosques and churches have been seriously damaged or razed to the ground by the invading Israeli military forces. A New York Times article explains that this is worse than the WWII carpet bombing of Dresden. So much for all the reassurances, which you have been happy to support, that Israel is using the utmost restraint and seeks to avoid civilian casualties.
You must know that this is nonsense. What is unfolding is a deliberate act of genocide, a serious attempt to eradicate the Palestinian population of the Gaza strip. Most of the population has now been displaced. Nowhere is safe. We now have Israeli ministers calling for the remaining Palestinians to be expelled from Gaza, and for colonist Jewish settlers to take their place. This is illegal under international law, just as it is illegal for more than 600,000 Jewish settlers to take over and settle on Palestinian land in the West Bank.
We now know that more than 1% of the Palestinian people of Gaza have been killed, that thousands lie buried under the rubble, and that more than 50,000 have been injured. Just imagine for a moment if that were to be replicated in Australia, where our population is ten times greater than that of the Gaza strip. That’s 300,000 people killed, 500,000 injured, and 50,000 buried under the rubble, most of them women and children. What, do you think, would be the international response? Would we continue to supply the enemy with weapons, whilst urging the invading forces to show a little restraint? I think not.
It's beyond time for a reality check.
Israel needs to be finally held to account for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, which has been ongoing since 1948. The illegal settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem need to be abandoned and handed to the Palestinian people, on whose land they have been built. The international community needs to insist that the Israeli government complies with UN resolutions, or face international sanctions.
Mike XXXXXXXX
We had a busy time at Saturday’s Valla Beach market. Lots of positive interactions with market-goers, more than eighty signatures on our open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs, and $200 in sales, to be donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre. A big thank you to our great team of volunteers.
Subject:
Dear RAR community,
Thank you for your ongoing support and passion for helping people seeking asylum and for your generosity towards the Asylum Seekers Centre (ASC).
As you know, ASC has been a safe haven for people fleeing danger - war, famine, persecution in their home countries and poverty, violence and systemic injustice in Australia - for over 30 years.
The week leading up to 22 February 2024 will mark the Asylum Seekers Centre’s second annual Giving Day campaign. In 2023, our inaugural Giving Day campaign inspired hundreds of donations, increased awareness of ASC, and helped provide life-changing wraparound care for almost 4000 people seeking asylum in our community, and their families.
This year, to meet the increased need in our community, we've increased our target in the hope of raising $300,000 in much-needed funding, as well as growing the supporter base that underpins our vital services.
We're asking friends like you to become Giving Day Champions by creating teams, donating to the campaign and sharing with your networks to help spread the word.
I've attached a PDF detailing ways you can support the day. Our webpage is in countdown mode, but you can start creating teams now.
We are grateful for your enduring support of ASC and appreciate any help you can provide to hit our target and inspire the wider community to help people seeking asylum.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warmly,
Sam
Samantha Latto (she/her)
Fundraising Community Engagement Coordinator
T: 02 9078 1900 | M: 0410 386 077
