It was standing room only at the Canterbury-Bankstown Council on September 29 when councillors unanimously supported a motion condemning “anti-Palestinianism”. The council comprises nine Labor councillors, five Liberal and one independent .
The Arab Australian Federation (AAF) statement, supported by more than 65 community groups, was drawn up in response to the incessant violations by Israel of the Palestinian people’s human, political, economic and national rights under international law, including their right to self-determination and nationhood.
According to the AAF, “anti-Palestinianism” refers to “language and practises that directs discrimination, racism, hatred or violence against the Palestinian people” including verbal — explicit or implied.
“At its worst, it denies the existence of the Palestinian people, an erasure that facilitates the perpetuation of violence against them and the denial of their right to self-determination.”
The AAF statement said decades of discrimination against the Palestinian people is reflected today in “Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian land, the containment of millions of Palestinians in refugee camps and the systemic attack on the lives and property of people under occupation”.
It highlighted the need for Palestinian refugees to have the right to return to their homes.
Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour told the meeting he is proud of his Palestinian origins including that he and his family lived through the bitterness of wars and displacement.
Read the report by Khaled Ghannam in Green Left.