Over the last 20 years, I have covered most of the Israeli attacks on Gaza. There have been many wars against Palestinians since 1967 that I have followed. The ones that come to mind are the siege of Tel al-Zaatar in 1976. Vanessa Redgrave brought a film depicting the massacre to Brisbane, and it was shown in the Regent theatre in early 1977. Most of the people who survived the siege were women and had fought alongside the PLO and provided a lot of aid to the injured and dying. The massacre at Sabra and Shatilla in 1982 was the first time that I participated in public opposition to the Israeli persecution of the Palestinians. Over the years, I have produced regular programs on local community radio covering events like al Nakba commemorations in May and various other significant events, interviewing activists and academics about the Palestinian cause. During this time, support was minimal. The rally in 1982 could muster only a few people.
The 2023-24 attack on Gaza may have been the worst war since 1948 because it is genocide of over two million people without any meaningful intervention of the international community and constantly blocked by the United States.
Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians into the Negev desert has been surgical, they have destroyed the hospitals, the schools, the water supply, the agriculture, the food aid, and even the sewerage trucks. Thirst, famine, and disease is now overcoming the numbers of people killed by Israel’s daily bombing by American F35s.
Each war seems to have been worse than the one before. They are not really wars. It’s more like slow murder becoming mass slaughter. These attacks on Gaza are nearly always accompanied by Israeli repression in the West Bank aided by the Palestinian Authority. Israel 🇮🇱 has been bombing Lebanon and Syria for years. It used to bomb Egypt and Jordan, but the elites in those countries have agreed with Israel not interfere with the slaughter of the Palestinians. Much is made in the Western press of participation by Iran, but that has always been minimal.
Sure, Iran has sent money to groups like Hamas, but not really much else. Besides, Hamas came from Egypt. After the British left in 1948, Gaza was controlled by Egypt. Regardless, Hamas, by its raid on Israeli camps and its subsequent resistance to handing over IDF soldiers has shown that they are no one’s proxy.
There have been many Palestinian resistance groups that have come and gone in my lifetime. Israel has murdered and destroyed these groups and their supporters. Not so anymore. They will not destroy palestinian resistance.
On a few occasions, I have been invited to visit Palestine. However, I do not wish to go there while Israel still exists. My grandfather, some cousins, two siblings, and their partners have all been to Palestine, and some have worked in kibbutzim. These are armed settler camps that make periodic raids on local Palestinian olive groves, orchards, and even their children. One of my friend’s children was shot by a settler. I say this to give some background to the protest that I attended out at the Commonwealth Treasurer’s office at Logan City on Saturday.
Ian Curr
26 Feb 2024
Song by Nour Khan
We cried, the day the others sang
-Nour Khan