The plight of Gaza is not forgotten here in Australia. I salute any individual going on the upcoming Gaza Freedom March:
Vivienne Porzsolt, a spokesperson for Jews Against the Occupation Sydney (JAO), is one of 10 activists from NSW who will spend their summer break challenging Israel’s defiance of international law. She will take part in the international Gaza Freedom March over December-January.
Porzsolt told Green Left Weekly she is angry about “the almost total silence by the US and its lackeys about the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza, and the terrible loss of life and property”.
JAO supports the international protest. “We feel a Jewish voice sends a particularly powerful message that challenging Israel’s defiance of international law and human rights conventions is not anti-Semitic”, she said.
“People forget that while the bombing [of Gaza] has stopped, the blockade — an act of war — continues to cause untold misery.”
Porzsolt encourages more people to join the “Aussie contingent”, which includes a retired psychiatrist, a student, an academic and a book editor. Veteran peace activists such as Donna Mulhearn, Marlene Obeid of the Sydney Stop the War Coalition and Bashir Sawalha of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine will also take part.
Novelist and poet Alice Walker will join Syrian comedian Duraid Lahham and a contingent of US students in the action. It will gather in Egypt and cross into Gaza to march alongside Palestinians in a non-violent demonstration on December 31.