Palestine Action Group waits for a decision

August 18, 2014 by J-Wire Staff
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Sydney’s Palestine Action Group is seeking permission to stage a protest outside the Verona cinema in Paddington on Thursday at the opening if the Israeli Film Festival.

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NSW police have not issued a permit for the protest which caused the group to apply today to the NSW Supreme Court for permission. The court heard the matter this morning but has deferred further action until tomorrow.

On their Facebook page , the Palestine Action Group states: “The Israeli FIlm Festival opens in Sydney on Thursday the 21st of August. That this event would be hosted in the immediate aftermath of Israel’s obliteration of 1,900 Palestinians, over 400 of whom were children, is deeply offensive. Cultural events of this sort are designed to whitewash Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. By providing a humanitarian veneer to the Israeli state’s apartheid policies. We must protest against it.

The Israeli Film Festival is run by the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange, an organisation which was founded to build cultural links between Israel and Australia. While Israel denies the Palestinians their freedoms, cultural or otherwise, people of conscience must boycott Israeli cultural and academic institutions.

AICE was launched by Benjamin Netanyahu, the war criminal who has presided over the current massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.

Join us to demand justice for the Palestinians!”

In a statement on behalf of the Australia Israel Cultural Exchange , chairman Albert Dadon said: “We are a Cultural Organisation promoting israeli and Australian culture in their wide diversity, as well as peace and harmony between Jews and Arabs. We have held past festivals in Nazareth and Um El Fachem but also in Sderot and Jerusalem.

We believe in tolerance, therefore I invite those protesters to leave their protests and come insidethe cinema in peace and watch a movie, an Israeli movie with us. They will be surprised to see that their views and their way of life are actually reflected in Israeli society The only true, tolerant and democratic society in the Middle East.
The Australian protesters against Israel obviously don’t realise that by protesting on the side of Hamas they are promoting a terrorist organisation that is not a friend of their way of life and their country.
If their protest is on humanitarian grounds, we are with them all heartedly as we too wish for all violence to stop.
We are looking forward to joining them to protest against violence in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Libya,  Nigeria and every other part of the world where there is conflict.
In the meantime we hope that none of this will deter movie lovers to come and appreciate the success story of that the Israeli cinema has become.”

 

Comments

5 Responses to “Palestine Action Group waits for a decision”
  1. Paul Winter says:

    Demonstrating in front of a theatre showing Israeli films is meant to harass, humiliate and intimidate the predominantly Jewish audiences that would be attending showings.

    Where are the big mouthed “leaders” who defend (oh, stop, I am laughing but not smiling) our community by calling – in a most dignified and humble way of course – for the retention of 18C.

    And has any half inventive lawyer thought of applying the secondary boycott provisions of our commercial law against the BDS pack of dogs. Those dogs are always smelling around Jews but cannot pick up the scent of blood from Syria, Iraq or the Islamic State.

  2. David Schulberg says:

    Seeing the ugly wheels of BDS in motion we should all make every effort to support the Israeli Film Festival so that it is an unqualified success. Read this horrendous diatribe from Nick Riemer from New Matilda at https://newmatilda.com/2014/08/18/calls-grow-boycott-sydneys-israeli-film-festival
    If our enemies want to draw lines in the sand in this fashion we should stand up to them and make a mockery of their shameful actions.

  3. gedalia says:

    meanwhile in Perth: a public and libellous statement that the AIC is a front organisation for Likud…. http://www.fopwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Israeli-film-festival-Perth-lealfet1.pdf

  4. Lynne Newington says:

    Well you have a strong letter of support from Ruth Webb in the Bendigo Advertiser [Saturday 16th August] congratulating advocates of prohibiting Israel/Jewish products, accompanied by a list just to remind them of some of the things they won’t be able to use.
    And with Bishop Pat Power now retired, you won’t be seeing him up front waving anymore flags…..unless incognito.

  5. David Miller says:

    Just a small correction. In New South Wales, the police do not issue ‘permits’ for protests. One gives a week’s notice and then you go ahead and have the protest. Only if the police oppose the protest do they have to go to the Supreme Court. The police themselves have no lawful authority to ‘prohibit’ a protest.

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