Jews Against the Occupation – Sydney (JAO-Sydney) was formed in May 2003 to give a clear Jewish voice in support of the national and human rights of Palestinians and a peaceful resolution of the Paletinian/Israeli conflict.
We are part of a world-wide movement among progressive Jews who are challenging increasingly conservative official Jewish community representatives in regard to Israel.
Our first public activity was the launch of the book The Challenge of Post-Zionism edited by Ephraim Nimni. We did this in partnership with the Sydney-based Palestine Human Rights Campaign. The occasion was standing-room only, with a wide range of participants, including Palestinians and other peace activists, trade unionists, academics, media and mainstream Jewish personalities.
This wide set of networks stood us in good stead with the controversy over the award of the Sydney Peace Prize to Dr Hanan Ashrawi. This was generated by some of the official Australian Jewish community leadership. Via email, we were able to alert our strong international networks whom responded with letters to Australian papers defending Dr Ashrawi’s worthiness of the prize. Our emails found their way to the web site of MIFTAH, the global human rights organisation headed by Dr Ashrawi. The media sought us out as an alternative Jewish voice. Our presentation of a bouquet of flowers to Dr Ashrawi received wide coverage, reaching even Al Jazeera.
As a result of the international publicity, we received an invitation to attend a Conference in Jerusalem in January 2004. This was jointly hosted by MIFTAH and the Faculty For Israeli-Palestinian Peace (FFIPP), a US-based group of academics. Vivienne Porzsolt, a JAO-Sydney founding member attended, and was on the final plenary panel discussing the possible role of an international network for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
At the same time she attended the International Human Rights March of Women in Israel/Palestine. Over 100 women from all over the world spent 3 weeks journeying through both Israel and Palestine, talking to peace activists in both countries and sharing their experiences. She has made a number of audio-visual presentations since her return.
We continue to work with all who share our goals.
