Who are we?

Students For Palestine is an Australian based cross-campus campaign group set up by students appalled at the recent atacks on Gaza and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine.

Upcoming Events

1. Palestinian film festival
Sydney: Thur Oct 29- Sun Nov 1st
http://www.palestinianfilmfestival.com.au/

2. Boycott Israeli Apartheid: protest Jerusalem Quartet concerts
In conjunction with CJPP; details here:
http://www.coalitionforpalestine.org/index.html
In the City Recital Hall, in Angel Place near Wynyard
6pm Mon 9 Nov 2009
7pm Sat 14 Nov 2009

3. Protest against visiting Israeli Deputy PM meeting with Kevin Rudd in Sydney
Israeli deputy PM Silvan Shalom is coming to Sydney and being welcomed by Kevin Rudd himself! It’s up to us to give him the welcome he really deserves. Join the protest:
War criminals not welcome here!
End the siege of Gaza, end the occupation!
Cut ties with apartheid Israel!
11am Thur 3rd Dec
Martin Pl

UNSW Students for Palestine Film Screening

Come along to the University of New South Wales Students for Palestine film screening!

We will be watching ‘Hope in a Sling Shot’ the hard hitting documentary about life under the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. I think the glowing endorsement of the film by Anthony Loewenstien should be enough:

Hope in a Slingshot is an important document of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine, crimes committed with the full backing of the Western powers. Get angry and active and view up-close the reality of life for the millions of Palestinians who survive under the jack-boot of Israeli rule. These people deserve our solidarity and support.

The film screening  will be happening at 2 PM, Thursday 15th of October in Mathews Building, room 308.

Hope to see you there!

Also if you are interested in helping out with this and future activities UNSW has weekly meetings on Thursdays at 2pm Mathews Building 308

Rally for Palestine great success!

Report from the Sydney rally:

Students for Palestine thanks all those who turned out to make the rally on Friday such a fantastic success!

200-300 of us converged on Town Hall to hear from our wonderful speakers Ophelia Haragli, Pat Eatock, Jennifer Killen, Aisha Chaabou and Sylvia Hale. They spoke about the Sabra and Shatila massacres of 1982, the Gaza massacre of 2009, the ongoing siege of Gaza, why Israel is a racist, apartheid state, the Australian Government’s shameful support for this state, and the inspiring worldwide campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions which are beginning to take effect against Israel.

After this, the crowd chose emphatically to march through the city to make our demands known, despite attempts by police to deny our right to march, threatening us with arrests. Their attempts were unsuccessful and the handful of police present was no match for our numbers and determination. Our mood was defiant, angry and exhilarated, our message simple: FREE, FREE PALESTINE!!!

The police acted in an idiotic and thuggish manner, refusing to facilitate our perfectly legal and peaceful protest, meaning we had to organise the blocking of traffic and direct the march ourselves. On a few occasions they assaulted demonstrators, including one shocking case where our guest speaker, aboriginal activist Pat Eatock, had her walking frame shoved over by a police officer while he yelled “now you follow it!” The police also made one vindictive arrest for a supposed “breach of the peace”. But the arrestee was soon released without charge and both he and Pat Eatock (who was thankfully uninjured) spoke defiantly at the end of the march to huge cheers.

It was a great victory for our protest, showing once again that we will not be silenced, that Israel’s crimes can no longer go unpunished and that the Palestinians are not alone in their struggle for liberation. We are with them!

Students for Palestine Conference

Students for Palestine present:

PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE TO

APARTHEID ISRAEL

An afternoon of discussion about the origins of Palestinian oppression and the possibilities for liberation.

1-4pm Friday, September 25th

Sydney University, Carslaw Lecture Theatre 175

1pm – Whatever Happened to the “Peace Process” (UTS Professor of History Heather Goodall)

2pm – Palestinian Uprising: The Origins and Significance of the Second (Al-Aqsa) Intifada (GG, Lecturer in Middle East Politics, MQU)

3pm – Video report from students in Gaza about the situation they face and the ongoing struggle against Israeli Apartheid.

For more info contact Robert 0400308198 or Ophelia 0410782263

See you there!!!!

****Followed by the RALLY FOR PALESTINE (5:30PM, Town Hall)****

Students For Palestine and elections at Monash

Dear Members and Supporters of Students for Palestine, Our chapter at Monash would like to make people aware of a situation that has arisen on our campus and ask for your support.

The issue is that the Monash members of the National Organisation of Labor Students, who control the Student Association are again frustrating and sabotaging our campaign.

Students for Palestine has been intending on standing candidates in the Student Association Elections this year.

This fits with one of our aims as a group to win the support of the Student Association to our cause. One way we can do this is by electing pro-Palestine candidates to the student council and other positions.

It is also an important time of year where students are thinking about the political issues of the day and our campaign wishes to engage in this process to put forth a pro-Palestine position.

Running candidates on the campaign ticket will enhance the profile of our campaign and also enable us to show the level of support there is among students for a pro Palestine campaign. Further, we wish to build the rally for September 25 during this week.

However, Julian Campbell and Mark Baker of the Labor Students have registered the ticket name ’students for palestine’ and ‘free omar’ and have refused to grant control of it to the campaign.

This is a vicious and cynical manoevre designed to prevent the campaign running candidates, putting out material and deciding its own preferences.

Julian Campbell is the MSA president and voted against condemning the bombing of Gaza in January and moved a motion to dock Omar Hassan’s pay for his involvement in the Students for Palestine Campaign.

These people are not supporters of Palestine or our campaign. THey have no right to own the ticket. They have done nothing but obstruct the progress of our campaign.

This is a total insult to the hard work of the many many activists that have built up the campaign over the last year.

That they wish to garner votes for themselves by trading off the success of our campaign or deny us the ability to pursue our aims in the campaign is outrageous manipulation.

We will be appealing this to the election officer on the grounds that Students for Palestine is an existing organisation and does not consent to the use of its name by Julian Campbell or Mark Baker, or anyone else not endorsed by the campaign.

To support us, please pass motions that recognise that Julian Campbell and Mark Baker are not endorsed by the Students for Palestine.

The only people recognised are those democratically elected by the campaign groupo at Monash – which are Omar Hassan, Colleen Bolger and Phillipa Briglia. For more information, please contact Colleen Bolger on 0449 678 621.

Rally for Palestine 5.30pm Fri 25 Sept

Called by Students for Palestine. Endorsed so far by: the Gaza Defence Committee, the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine, Stop the War Coalition (Sydney), the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (Sydney University), Australians for Palestine, The Hive (UWS student association), Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association, Sydney University Muslim Student Association, Socialist Alternative, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Socialist Alliance, Sydney University Students Representative Council.

Students4Palestine Working Bee

Hi everyone,
S4P in Sydney is holding a working bee this Saturday 8 Aug, from 11am at SUPRA (main entrance is on the cnr of Abercrombie and Raglan st, behind the Aquatic Centre at Sydney University). We are making a huge banner, badges, and fact sheets to help advertise the upcoming Rally for Palestine, which is on the 25th of September at 5:30 at Town Hall. Please come along! We will also be holding our next cross-campus Students4Palestine meeting at the working bee, to discuss building the upcoming rally, etc.

If you have any questions, or ideas on what else we can be doing at this working bee, feel free to contact Dima on 0407892585 or Kay on 0413957838.

Hope to see you all there!

Kay

Fundraising dinner great success!

Just to let everyone know, the S4P dinner last week was attended by over 200 people and raised almost $4000 for the various causes.

S4P would like to thank everyone who attended and donated money, the artists and performers as well as the organisers and anyone else who played a role in making the event such a success!

Student 1: hey man what did you do on Friday the 27^th?

Student 2: not much stayed home and watched the Simpsons, what did you get up to?

Student 1: I went to a fundraising dinner for Palestine in Rockdale

Student 2: was it any good?

Student 1: heck yes!… they had John Macdonald give a talk about the public health issue in Gaza, Aaron Benedek spoke about the Boycott divestment and Sanction (BDS) campaign against Israel, a performance by the brothahood, Palestinian poetry and an Indonesian traditional dance.

Student 2: wow that sounds awesome…how was the food?

Student 1: the food was great there were a variation of Middle Eastern food for dinner, some maaloube rice, meat pastries, chicken, salad and falafel dude it was awesome!

Student 2: Falafel?!!? I love falafel!

Student 1: what did you have to eat?

Student 2: …pods? Who organised the dinner?

Student 1: a group called Students for Palestine who came together after the massacre in Gaza in January 09. Ophelia Haragli, Aisha Chaabou, Josh Lees, Patrick Langosch were the main organisers however they had the support of The Gaza Defence committee, The Muslim Student Association and Socialist Alternative.

Student 2: How much did they raise?

Student 1: They raised $3250, which will be split between the ongoing Students for Palestine campaigns, and the global academic BDS project at the Gaza University. A video of a woman with eight children, who as a result of the Gaza offence was widowed and they raised $840 for her alone. Over all it was a very successful night, and all to celebrate Palestinian culture and resistance.  Dude you missed out!

Aisha Chaabou

Sydney – Students 4 Palestine Fundraising Dinner

Time: 6pm Friday 24 July
Venue: Rockdale Town Hall (near Rockdale Station).

Celebrate 61 years of Palestinian resistance and help us raise funds to continue our campaign of Palestine solidarity.

Join us for a night of fun, food, music, film, poetry, theatre, politics and much more! All welcome (not just students). All proceeds raised will be split between Palestinian charities and Students for Palestine ongoing campaigns.

Organised by Students for Palestine, a cross-campus organisation uniting all students who want to campaign in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Check out our website: http://studentsforpalestine.wordpress.com

Featuring:

Hip hop crew The Brothahood from Melbourne + other live Palestinian music

Speakers
Fantastic 100% halal food
Short films documenting recent events in Gaza
Palestinian poetry
And more…

Ticket prices:
Solidarity – $20
Adult – $10
Under 18 – $5
Kids under 5 – free
(Tickets available at the door.)

An alcohol-free event.

RSVP by 23 July (or contact for more info):
by email: s4pfundraiser@gmail.com
by phone: Aisha 0416 474 782; Patrick 0422 028 113.

AUSTRALIANS VOTE FOR PALESTINE

Many more Australians think that Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip in January this year was not justified, a new poll conducted by Roy Morgan Research finds.

And more Australians generally have sympathy for the Palestinians than the Israelis in the Middle Eastern conflict.

The results are part of an independent national poll done by the respected Roy Morgan Research company. It was commissioned by the Sydney-based Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and the Adelaide Australian Friends of Palestine (AFOPA) organisations.

CJPP Convenor, Peter Manning, said:

“The national poll shows the federal Labor Government is out of step with public opinion when it cuddles up to Israel. Julia Gillard’s current delegation to Israel is out of step not only with President Obama’s policies but with what Australians think.”

The biggest differences emerge on attitudes to Israel’s military attack on Gaza in Palestine in January when more than 1400 Palestinian civilians were killed, 400 of them children. Some 42.0 percent of Australians found Israel’s actions “not justified” whereas only 29.0 percent found it “justified”. The rest said they “couldn’t say”.

CJPP Convenor Peter Manning said : The answers to this question about Gaza show that Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was well out of step with public opinion when she expressed sympathy for the few Israelis who died from rocket attacks rather than the 1400 Palestinians being slaughtered by Israeli gunfire on schools, hospitals and residential buildings.”

Mr Manning also said that Australians were becoming wise to the Rudd Government’s one-sided attitude to the conflict in the Middle East.

Of the 636 Australians aged 18 years and over asked whether their sympathies lie more with the Israelis or with the Palestinians, 28.0pc said with the Palestinians, 25.0pc with neither and 24.5pc with the Israelis. Twenty-three percent said they couldn’t say.

Answers to the final question show most Australians (42.0pc) think the Federal Government favours neither side, whilst 1.0pc say it favours Palestine and 19.5pc say it favours Israel. In effect, of those who perceived Government bias, 94.0 percent thought it was towards Israel.

When asked whether they were aware of the events in January concerning the Gaza military campaign, 38.0.pc said they knew “a lot” or “a fair amount” about the situation, 61.0 percent said they did not know much at all or “nothing” and 1.0pc couldn’t say.

Interestingly, of the 38.0pc who said they knew “a lot” or “a fair amount”, a much bigger percentage expressed sympathy for the Palestinians (44.5pc) over the Israelis (29.5pc) .

Mr Manning said:
“All these results, put together, show that Australians are reading between the lines of the media bias against Palestine and Palestinians and they are not convinced by the Howard and Rudd government’s Israel-right-or-wrong policies.”

Coalition for Justice & Peace in Palestine
PO Box 399
Dulwich Hill NSW 2203
cjpp@coalitionforpalestine.org