February Vigil Here in Melbourne

Here, once again, is our monthly vigil in the streets of downtown Melbourne. Almost a 100 sheets were put into the hands of passer-bys. I noticed this time as I offered our flyer, the shape and textures of these hands, some rough with work, some fragile, yet not afraid to touch my own, large hands that reached out, tentative touches--these moments of risked contact are the gift of street vigils. I noticed other things as well. The family that came by, parents with a teenage girl and as the young woman reached for the flyer, her mother pulled her back as if she was going to put her hand into fire. She turned to me, her face contorted with anger, "how dare you, my uncle was Jewish!"

"But I am Jewish," I said. Her face so close to mine I could see her eyes clenching with disbelief. She spat at me and then, pulling the young girl behind her, marched away. For a long time after, I thought of that young woman, how close she had come to exploring something for herself and how terrifying this was to her care takers.

Our Flyer for February

Make 2010 The Year We End Israel's Blockade of Gaza

Women in Black, Melbourne, dedicate this vigil to the International Gaza Freedom Marchers, young and old, including 85 year old Holocaust survivor, Hedy Epstein, who risked their lives to bring medical supplies to Gaza.

These people, ordinary citizens of Gaza, of Israel, of 40 other countries, want another kind of world where children do not play amidst the rubble of their homes, where military force does not deny peace-seeking people from negotiating solutions to their conflicts, where young people can have hope for their future.

We stand as Jewish feminists and our allies to oppose Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands, to call on Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take steps towards peace that are yet to be taken, to end the siege of Gaza and to freely allow dissent.

We stand to challenge the carnage inflicted by armed force on any people, to examine the fears that may drive us to blame and dehumanize each other, to protest the use of all forms of violence: rape,terrorism,collective punishment,militarism, suicide bombings,targeted assassinations and coerced population movements. These actions will never resolve conflicts between nations and peoples.

We stand to reject all forms of racism, including anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism.

Join our monthly vigils, the first Saturday of each month, 12-1, on the steps of the GPO building on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets.

Our vigils members for February--Sivan, Dianne, Esme, Geraldine, Hellen, Joan, Hinde.

A Unified Voice

Horrendous Crime of Hatred Against Gays and Lesbians in Israel


Aswat- Palestinian Gay Women- laments the tragic death of the two youngsters at the Tel-Aviv gay center Saturday evening.

Aswat harshly condemns the horrendous attack on the center of LGBT community in Tel-Aviv, resulting in the killing of gay and lesbian activists and severely wounding several others. We call upon our partners and supporters to fight all forms of crimes of hatred, specially, ones directed against the LGBT community.

We are utterly appalled by this crime of hatred that marks an extreme escalation of homophobia in our community, particularly, that it occurred in Tel-Aviv, supposedly, a symbol of pluralism and diversity.

The horrific crime followed a wave of massive incitement of hatred against the LGBT community in Israel, and it is unfortunate that the Israeli government condemns these crimes but frequently tolerates verbal attacks directed from senior government officials against the gay community in the country.

Aswat stands in solidarity with all LGBT organizations and activist in the country; Palestinians and Israelis alike, against the atrocious killings of innocents. We will march together, hand in hand, in Haifa, Tel-Aviv, and Jerusalem against hatred and discrimination, and raise our voices, the voices of justice and freedom.

In Solidarity with all victims of the Crimes of Hate

Aswat- Palestinian Gay Women

Posted by Joan

The MIssing Voices of Women

Nurit Peled lost her daughter to a suicide bomber http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8n6w4_nurit-peled_news "Obama, take away the pain in my stomach," a letter from a woman from Machsom Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGm-gxmxHw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fprofile%2Ephp%3Fid%3D578103001%26ref%3Dmf&feature=player_embedded

Women In Black Protest Melbourne

Women In Black Protest Melbourne
Originally uploaded by gxdoyle

Our July Vigil--the Hopes of People Alive on the Street

Our women on the streets: Geraldine, Alex, Marg, Sandra, Esme, Hellen, Karen, Denise, Sivan, Joan--sharing the activist corner with a group of Palestinian Australians giving out literature against the occupation and a protest by Honduran Australians against the coup in their central American country. All I can say is that the gray winter day was transformed by the vitality of human dreaming or a better world--join us for just ten minutes, for an hour on our next vigil, the first Saturday in August, August 1--you don't have to agree with all our politics--we do not always agree with each other but if you are haunted by the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza, by the images of militaristic aggression against civilian populations that seem to be sweeping the world these days, join us on the streets, where ideas live on the body and passivity is banished. (Joan)

Other images. A passing photographer wrote us, "I shot some images of the Melbourne Women in Black group in action in Bourke Street Mall today-you can see the images here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/28521225@NO2/sets/72157620932148404

Israeli Peace Activist Faces Jail Over Homes Demolition Protest

The sad news comes thick and fast from Palestine and Israel. Before the seizure of the ship reported on below, we received news of the arrest and impending sentencing of Ezra Nawi, a much loved and respected peace activist who have worked with "vulnerable Palestinian families in the hills around Hebron "struggling to keep their homes from being bulldozed." (The Guardian, June 30,2009) A plumber by trade, Nawi, born to a Jewish Iraqi family from Basra, speaks Arabic: "I have seen the checkpoints, the barriers. I've seen everything with my own eyes and I think any decent cannot sit indifferent to this. It is beyond the issue of Arabs and Jews..." And then I read that Ezra Nowi is a gay man with a Palestinian lover who has been imprisoned for entering Israel without a permit to be with his partner and all my issues come together--how is it that peace and those who stand against the rule of the gun are seen as dangers to the state; in this sense, we are all queer who refuse the dehumanization of whole peoples, the deliberate delight in causing pain and loss of hope that comes with an occupying force with the power to demolish homes and personal and communal dignity--"His trial has sparked a broad campaign of support from academics, musicians, artists. 'You have here the whole misery and cruelty of the occupation in a nutshell,' David Shulman, a Hebrew University professor and activist with the Israeli-Palestinian peace group Ta'ayush, wrote in Ha'aretz newspaper.'

Only the peace movement is all its forms can save Israel from itself. Or as Nawi said, "all that will be left is hate." Please find a way to be involved, to make your voice heard.
Joan

Alert: "The Spirit of Humanity" Seized

23 miles off the coast of Gaza, 15:30 pm--

"Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, "The Spirit of Humanity, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congress woman Cynthia Mc Kinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel. " This cruel response to acts of kindness and concern for the well being of the people Gaza--their hardships just recently underlined by the Red Cross report describing the effects of the Israeli continued closing of the borders so rebuilding supplies cannot get in as well as other necessities of life--is further sad evidence of the national policy of Israel to make life as harsh as possible for the every day people of Gaza--this boat carrying medical supplies, reconstructive supplies and children's toys can be no threat to the power of Israel--but the message of world concern it represents will be Israel's undoing-others who live far away from the walls and checkpoints that make Palestinians invisible except as controlled workers or the hated other do see the faces of the imprisoned, the hopeless, the suffering--this Jewish woman sees their faces and joins with so many Jewish voices in Israel and without, and others, who say the shanda, the shame, is growing with every passing desperate day. ON JULY 4TH, from 12-1, WE WILL BE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE GPO IN DOWNTOWN MELBOURNE AS WE DO THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH TO PROTEST THIS ACT OF SEIZURE AND THE DAILY VIOLENCE OF THE OCCUPATION. To register your own protest, e-mail Mark Regev, the public relations voice of this regime, in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office--mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

You can fax the Israeli Ministry of Justice at +972 2646 62357

More information: Jewish Peace News, jnp@jewishpeacenews.net and http://www.freegaza.org/

As the chairperson of Free Gaza Movement Huwaida Arraf said, "Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release."

Joan