Sydney Peace Foundation Statement on Gaza Israel Crisis
Last week, the Sydney Peace Foundation shared the words of our 2016 Laureate Naomi Klein as she called for a united voice for peace and justice in the face of atrocities in Israel and in Gaza.
She reminded us that we must side with “the child over the gun every single time, no matter whose gun and no matter whose child.”
As Gaza is bombarded, we feel we must now speak again.
The Sydney Peace Foundation has joined calls in Australia and around the globe for an immediate ceasefire. We call on the Australian Government do everything it can to support this.
In this latest round of violence in the Middle East we have seen the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents. We have seen civilians kidnapped and entire families murdered in their homes in acts of terror committed by Hamas militants.
Thousands of civilians have already lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes.
As the United Nations has pointed out, even wars have rules.
The civilian population of over two million in Gaza has nowhere to escape to. There are reports of impending deaths by dehydration as the water runs out.
The innocent victims are human beings: mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children.
When war crimes are committed, they must be acknowledged. Those affected must be able to seek real justice and they must be able to safely mourn.
War crimes never justify ever more war crimes in retaliation. Justice and peace will not be found this way.
All people in Israel and in Gaza deserve justice. They deserve peace.
An immediate ceasefire is the first step.
The human rights of all people must be respected and international humanitarian law must be upheld.
The Sydney Peace Foundation acknowledges that we sit on the unceded lands of the Gadigal people, and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters, and community that is deeply embedded in the spaces on which we work.