BY LISA MACDONALD
SYDNEY — A new Palestine Human Rights Campaign was launched at a meeting of Palestine solidarity activists on November 18. The group will provide a coordinating centre for activities here in solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle against Israeli oppression.
By providing a forum for information exchange, discussion and action planning by the many small Palestine solidarity organisations and community networks , the PHRC aims to build as rapidly as possible a strong, active, publicly visible Palestine solidarity movement in Sydney, along the same lines as the original Palestine Human Rights Campaign which led Palestine solidarity activity in Australia in the 1980s. The PHRC will focus on four key demands: the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli armed forces from the areas occupied by Israel in 1967; for an international protection force to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops; for an international investigation into the "war crimes" committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people since the new intifada began in September; and, for the Australian government to endorse and promote the enforcement of all United Nations' resolutions and international laws which recognise Palestine.
The initial meeting of the group, held at the University of Technology, involved Palestinian and other activists from the Arab community, members of the Democratic Socialist Party, the Worker Communist Party of Iraq, the Communist League, and individual supporters of a free Palestine. The group is open and encourages all organisations and individuals who support the demands to get involved.
Discussion of the activity of the PHRC generated a lot of ideas for campaigning. A media committee was formed and plans made for building four upcoming actions: a November 24 rally and march in the city (see advertisement on page 21), a November 26 peaceful protest outside the venue in Darling Harbour where a visiting Israeli colonel will address an audience organised by the Council of Australian Jewry, and, on December 10, "Black Ribbon Day", initiated by women in Palestine and now marked internationally.
Each of these actions will feed into the building of a mass rally and march on December 10, commencing at noon at First Fleet Park. The march is being co-organised with the Refugee Action Collective and the Indigenous Social Justice Association and is one of many Palestine solidarity marches to be held around the world on that date.
The PHRC will meet next at 4pm on Saturday, November 25, University of Technology, Broadway, Ultimo. For more information about that meeting and the actions planned so far, or to get involved in the campaign, phone (02) 9690 1977 or join the email list at <solidarity_palestine@egroups.com>.