October 7 Statement, Two Years On.

The Israeli government’s devastation of every thread of the fabric of Gaza, and its use of starvation, amount to war crimes.

7 October 2023 fell on the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah, usually the most joyous day of the Jewish religious calendar. When word filtered through of the attack by Hamas, the rituals of the day were subdued. People were in shock.

Now, two years on, the destruction of Gaza and the plight of the Palestinian people has caught the attention of billions. The indifference of the Netanyahu government to the fate of the Israeli hostages is one manifestation of the hatred that drives its relentless prosecution of a war whose aim - the elimination of the Palestinian people’s self-determination and freedom - cannot be achieved, any more than trying to deny the deep connection between Judaism and its ancestral land.
These are ideas over which war has no power.

The Israeli government’s devastation of every thread of the fabric of Gaza, and its use of starvation, amount to war crimes. And, in the eyes of credible human rights groups such as B’tselem, they amount to genocide.

The Australian Jewish community is diverse. To simply describe it as a community of Zionists and anti-Zionists, is like describing Australia as only composed of Indigenous people and colonialists.

Many in the community are dismayed by what has happened in Gaza. Those who publicly protest against the atrocities of this war face criticism from within the community, but they give voice to the silence of many. Most want to see an end to the war and the hostages freed.

We mourn for all the lives lost.

Image from BBC News: Entire districts have been razed to the ground. Agricultural land where greenhouses once stood have been reduced to sand and rubble by heavy vehicles and tanks used in clearing operations by Israeli troops.