Our Teta was born in Haifa, Palestine. She used to tell us stories that would include her Jewish and Muslim neighbours.

Her stories also included the family’s expulsion from the land during the creation of Israel in 1948, know as the Nakba or catastrophe.

It's been 76 years of violent occupation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Palestinians.

During the last 2 years Gaza has been decimated while the world watches.

We've seen the entire population of the Gaza strip displaced while every single hospital has been bombed along with schools, mosques, churches and refugee camps.

We've seen a brutal blockade enacted so that the civilians starve to death while they are bombed.

Israel has carried out its modern day colonisation of the land with the most sophisticated weapons and surveillance, supported by the largest military in the world.

It's not surprising that the nations also founded on genocide and colonisation support this violence. Israel, like Australia, is a settler colony - seeking to eliminate the Indigenous population using settlers to steal land through state-sanctioned violence

"Both sides" of our government, as well as the media, act to support Israel in its mission to exterminate the Palestinian people.

Gaza has exposed international law and our democracy as an illusion - "If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system."

It's not just one nation, one politician, one genocide.

What we are seeing and why it is "allowed" is the result of an economic system that prioritises profit over people, and concentrates wealth and power into the hands of the few.

What can a t-shirt do in the face of this injustice?

Not much, but we think that Palestine is now a symbol and by wearing it with pride you will let people know that there's one more person fighting for a free Palestine and liberation for all.

Watermelons are popular in the Levant region, but they also contain the same colours as the Palestinian flag which has been banned in Israel. The watermelon serves as a way for Palestinians to express their identity in the face of Israeli oppression.

Israel is a Jewish ethnostate that was established by the violent expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land [1]. In 1948 Palestine was partitioned and the 63% Palestinian majority was offered only 45% of their own land, which the Palestinian leadership did not accept. Israel, like Australia, is a settler colony - seeking to eliminate the Indigenous population using settlers to steal land through state-sanctioned violence [2]. After the 1967 war, Israel expanded its borders and placed the entire Palestinian population under military rule. This now 57-year occupation is recognised as illegal under international law, and Israel requires a system of apartheid, dehumanisation, and military normalisation to continue to exist [3]. Although Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the state is legally recognised as the occupying power, controlling Gaza’s borders, sea, rainwater, electricity & civil registry [3].

1. https://academic.oup.com/manchester-scholarship-online/book/16071 “Historicising the Nakba: Contested Nakba Narratives” from the book “Co-Memory and Melancholia: Israelis Memorialising the Palestinian Nakba”,  (2010) Ronit Lentin.

2. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1858760 The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European invasion of Australia (2006) Henry Reynolds.

3. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion “Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” (2024)

Israel is committing a genocide and has slaughtered over 100,000 people, most of them women and children [1]. This is 1 in 20 people in Gaza, and this number is so difficult to estimate because the infrastructure to count the dead has been destroyed. 38,000 children have been orphaned, in Gaza children make up 47% of the population [2]. Israel has used food and water as a weapon, and deliberately blocked aid to starve people to death. Israel has targeted journalists, medics, and aid workers - over 270 journalists have been murdered [3]. Israel has destroyed over 80% of the infrastructure in Gaza, and has bombed schools, universities, hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques, churches, and a water desalination plant. The first 120 days of bombing released half a million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the annual emissions from 26 countries [4].

1. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.19.25329797v3.full-text Violent and Nonviolent Death Tolls for the Gaza War: New Primary Evidence (2025) Spagat et al. [Estimated 85,000 killed (Jan 2025), estimated 10K missing, number likely >120,000 (as of Sept 2025). Infrastructure to count the dead has been destroyed.]

2. https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2025/04/04/336691/ 

3. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/11/here-are-the-names-of-the-journalists-israel-killed-in-gaza

4. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5274707

Israel, like Australia, is a settler colony. Both were established on the erasure of Indigenous presence (Terra Nullius/Land without a people), seeking to eliminate the Indigenous population using settlers to steal land through state-sanctioned violence [1,2]. Both the Australian and Israeli governments attempt to erase the history of violence perpetrated against the Indigenous people (Frontier Wars/Nakba) [3,4]. The First Nations people here are still denied sovereignty and still experience occupation and genocide at the hands of the Australian government, a government that actively supports the Israeli occupation and genocide. For those of us who are settlers, we should care about justice for First Nations people here and everywhere, and demand that our government provide land back here and end its complicity in the Israeli genocide.

1. https://archive.org/details/tantura.-1080p.-hc.-web-dl.-aac-2.0.x-264_202312 Tantura (2022 film)

2. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/4464619 First Australians: An Illustrated History (2008), Rachel Perkins and Marcia Langton

3. https://academic.oup.com/manchester-scholarship-online/book/16071 “Historicising the Nakba: Contested Nakba Narratives” from the book “Co-Memory and Melancholia: Israelis Memorialising the Palestinian Nakba”,  (2010) Ronit Lentin.

4. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1858760 The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European invasion of Australia (2006) Henry Reynolds.

Australia is complicit in the genocide by directly exporting weapons components to Israel. Although the government denies that it provides “weapons”, Australian companies manufacture critical components of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, and there is evidence that these have been sent directly to Israel as recently as 2025 [1]. These jets are used to bomb Palestinian civilians and infrastructure, and their use in committing war crimes is well-documented. As a signatory to the Arms Trade Treaty, Australia is prohibited from authorising arms transfers that could be used to commit war crimes. Some Australian companies known to supply critical components for the F-35 program are: BAE Systems, Heat Treatment Australia, Bisalloy Steel Group, Marand Precision Engineering, RUAG Australia, Quickstep Technologies, L3Harris Technologies. By facilitating the continuing export to Israel of military, dual use and non-military items used to support Israeli war crimes, the Australian government is directly complicit in both the genocide and other breaches of international law. 

Australia logistically supports Israel through operation of the joint AUS-US surveillance facility “Pine Gap” that monitors the Gaza strip. The facility directly feeds intelligence to the Israeli military for targeting and conducting airstrikes in Gaza [2].

Australia also supports Israel diplomatically, by platforming Israeli propaganda and refusing to impose sanctions. The government has justified Israels genocide in Gaza by reinforcing Israeli talking points such as its right to defence and Hamas using human shields (see FAQ on Israeli talking points). Australia imposed over 1000 sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine but refuses to impose full diplomatic and economic sanctions on Israel despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes.

1. https://declassifiedaus.org/2025/07/11/revealed-australia-has-exported-f-35-fighter-jet-parts-directly-to-israel/

2. https://declassifiedaus.org/2023/11/03/targeting-palestine/

No. Although Zionists strategically conflate the two, Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and Zionism is a relatively recent extremist ideology. Zionism, the movement for the creation of a Jewish homeland, is a European idea both responding to, and rooted in, antisemitism [1]. The ideology inherently accepts the antisemitic idea that Jewish people don't belong in their European home countries, and advocates for their expulsion from Europe (and now the US). Jewish safety will never be achieved through genocide and by conflating a genocidal ethnostate with Judaism. Currently the most dangerous place for Jewish people is Israel [2].

1. https://spectrejournal.com/the-antisemitism-of-zionism/ “The Antisemitism of Zionism” – Spectre Journal (2024) Shane Burley 

2. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/butl14610 Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism (2012) Judith Butler

Pinkwashing is one of Israel's propaganda tactics, pushing the perception of Israel as a queer haven and using racist stereotypes to frame Palestinians as "backwards" [1]. This is exploitative of LGBTQIA+ rights, especially considering that same-sex marriage is not legal in Israel, and neither is marriage between people of different religions. Ultimately, this tactic attempts to divert attention away from Israel's human rights abuses towards Palestinians, and somehow justify the unjustifiable. The greatest threat to the lives of queer Palestinians is Israel.

1. https://forgeorganizing.org/article/pinkwashing-101-how-israel-turned-gay-pride-occasion-oppression/ 

There are some key narratives that Israel, and its allies including Australia, use to justify the genocide. 

1. “Hamas are responsible for the violence by starting the war” - Hamas exists because of the brutal Israeli occupation and blockade of Gaza, and the Netanyahu government has funded Hamas in an effort to divide Palestinians [1]. Israeli ministers have openly declared their desire to resettle Gaza, and the Oct 7th attack has been used to further this illegal plan of ethnic cleansing. There are also questions around Israeli complicity in the Oct 7th attack due to Israel’s advanced surveillance capabilities, IDF testimony of stand-down orders that morning, and the fact that IDF reinforcements were only 15 minutes away from the attacked settlements but took over 2 hours to respond [2].

2. “Hamas uses human shields, therefore civilian casualties are Hamas’s fault.” This is a fallacy. Even if Hamas places military assets among civilians, this does not absolve Israel of its independent legal and moral responsibility to avoid killing civilians, and wrongly shifts blame away from the actor directly causing the civilian deaths. Treating all civilians as “legitimate targets” because fighters are nearby is against international law - we wouldn’t bomb a school to stop a school shooter. Israel's military headquarters are themselves embedded amongst the civilian population in Tel Aviv, and there is documented evidence that Israel systematically uses civilians as human shields in the most literal sense [3,4].

3. “Israel has the right to defend itself” This is false in the context of Gaza. The reasons are outlined in the ICJ advisory ruling, which classifies Israel as the occupying power of Gaza, and is therefore obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure the safety of the occupied population. As an occupying power, Israel has no legal right to self-defence against this population, even in the context of armed conflict, and even though the occupation is illegal [5].

4. “Israel has the right to exist”. Israel exists as a state subject to international law. Under international law, Israel is obliged to provide reparations, including the return of all land and assets taken since 1967, evacuate all settlers, dismantle segregation walls and allow displaced Palestinians to return [5]. Israel doesn’t have the right to exist while upholding apartheid, illegally occupying Palestinian territory, expanding illegal settlements, and carrying out a genocide. 

1. https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/netanyahu-money-to-hamas-part-of-strategy-to-keep-palestinians-divided-583082

2. https://thecradle.co/articles-id/32277

3. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-army-human-shields-80f358dd2c87a1123f26ffada159701c

4.  https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/mde151432002en.pdf Israel and the Occupied Territories Shielded from scrutiny: IDF violations in Jenin and Nablus (2002) Amnesty International

5. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion “Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” (2024)

Israel was founded on forced displacement and genocide, and its existance relies on violence. Under international law Israel must provide reparations, including the return of all land and assets taken since 1967, evacuate all settlers, dismantle segregation walls and allow displaced Palestinians to return [1]. If Israel were to fulfil its obligations under international law, it would cease to exist as it does now i.e. an occupying ethnostate. The escalation of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians ensures the continuation of the current state and government. Israel’s weapons industry benefits by exporting its “tested”  technology to other regimes to oppress people globally. Right now Israel fuels the war crimes in South Sudan - waging a proxy war against Iran, and supports India in oppressing the people in occupied Kashmir.

The US supports Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military aid (since 1970s), access to advanced weapons, and consistent vetoes at the UN Security Council. From 2023-2025 this funding has increased to around $20 billion [2]. The US doesn’t offer its bipartisan support unconditionally, in return it expects cooperation in enacting US interests. This cooperation is to such a degree that Israel has been described as a US outpost in the region, and it is in the interests of the US to maintain the current Israeli state so that it can continue to use Israel to ensure that the US still has the ability to extract resources from North Africa and the Middle East. Lobbying groups such as AIPAC act on Israel's behalf, influencing US politicians to make the withdrawal of any aid and support impossible, even when Israel acts against the interests of the US.

Corporations across various sectors directly profit from the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, as outlined in the UN report “From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide” [3]. Some corporate conglomerates exceed the GDP of sovereign States, and the report describes how entities across sectors including arms manufacturers, tech firms, building and construction companies, extractive and service industries, banks, pension funds, insurers, universities and charities contribute to and profit from the exploitation and genocide of Palestinians. 

The report describes that “Militarized violence created the State of Israel and remains the engine of its settler-colonial project… The military-industrial complex has become the economic backbone of the State, between 2020 and 2024, Israel was the eighth largest arms exporter worldwide. The two most prominent Israeli weapons companies – Elbit Systems and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries – are among the top 50 arms manufacturers globally.” For these companies, the genocide has been extremely profitable. 

She also explains that “prolonged occupation and repeated military campaigns have provided testing grounds for cutting-edge military capabilities: air defence platforms, drones, AI-powered targeting tools and even the US-led F-35 programme. These technologies are then marketed as “battle-proven”.” Anthony Lowestein’s “The Palestine Laboratory” details Israel’s history of developing and exporting military technology, including surveillance, to oppress civilians worldwide [4]. Tech giants IBM, Microsoft, Palantir, Alphabet (Google) and Amazon provide infrastructure for mass data collection and embed AI into the machinery of genocide [5-7].

Other sectors are also complicit and profit from the occupation and genocide of Palestinians. Caterpillar, HD Hyundai and Volvo excavators and heavy equipment have been used both in the destruction of Palestinian villages and infrastructure, and in the construction of illegal Israeli colonies [8,9]. AirBnB and Booking.com list properties on illegal Israeli settlements, profiting from stolen Palestinian land [10,11].

Asset management firms Vanguard and Blackrock channel billions of dollars into companies directly involved in Israel’s occupation and genocide. They are among the largest investors in Caterpillar, IBM, Microsoft, Palantir, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Elbit Systems. Sovereign wealth and pension funds are also significant financiers. By the end of 2024 the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), had $121.5 billion – 6.9 per cent of its total value – invested in companies named in the report. Australia’s Future Fund also invests in Elbit Systems. In this way, many of us are unknowingly complicit through our banks and pension funds.

1. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion “Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” (2024)

2. https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

3. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/ From economy of occupation to economy of genocide – (A/HRC/59/23) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (Advance unedited version)

4. https://antonyloewenstein.com/books/the-palestine-laboratory-how-israel-exports-the-technology-of-occupation-around-the-world/ The Palestine Laboratory (2023) Antony Loewenstein

5. https://mondoweiss.net/2021/03/how-microsoft-is-invested-in-israeli-settler-colonialism/; 

6.  www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft/; 

7.  https://www.thenation.com/article/world/nsa-palantir-israel-gaza-ai/

8. https://www.amnestyusa.org/blog/caterpillar-incs-role-in-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territories/

9. https://www.whoprofits.org/writable/uploads/publications/1668628326_d431e6ac8c4db6e661ba.pdf

10. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/11/20/bed-and-breakfast-stolen-land/tourist-rental-listings-west-bank-settlements

11. https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/feb/27/seized-settled-let-how-airbnb-and-bookingcom-help-israelis-make-money-from-stolen-palestinian-land

This is a well-worn talking point of those who support the state of Israel, and has become the accepted mainstream position. On the surface it might seem like the only reasonable option, but consider what this actually means and the possibility of this becoming a reality. There was a partition of the land of Palestine in 1948, this was a "two-state solution" that Israel continues to defy by illegally occupying and claiming more and more of the land [1]. Israelis would never agree to a fair partition proportional to population as it would mean giving land back to the Palestinians.  Any partition of the land would require mass displacement of both Palestinians and Israelis, and many scholars agree that the illegal Israeli settlement expansion renders a two-state solution impossible [2,3]. Europe uses this hypothetical solution as a way to delay the enforcement of international law, which requires that Israel end its illegal occupation, pay reparations, and return the land [1]. An alternative is the one state solution, where everyone, no matter what ethnicity or religion, lives on the land with equal rights as they once did [4]. The feasibility and details of this are also a subject of debate, but ultimately Israel must not be allowed to continue its genocide of the Palestinians who deserve agency to determine their own future.

1. https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/186/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion “Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” (2024)

2. https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650639 Paradigm Lost: From Two-State Solution to One-State Reality (2019), Ian Lustick

3. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/10/magazine/the-one-state-solution.html One State Solution, 1999, Edward Said, NYT

4. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27934008 One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (2006), Ali Abunimah