Don't Talk About Palestine: The Zionist war on civil rights

Over the last 18 months, Australia's political, corporate, academic, media and justice institutions have waged a campaign of persecution against the countless ordinary people who have expressed support for a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people, and freedom for all peoples between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

The scope and intensity of this persecution has been extraordinary. Teachers, students, academics, artists, authors, journalists, activists, lawyers, cafe owners, public servants, healthcare workers, makeup influencers – there is practically no area of public life into which it has not reached. People have lost jobs and livelihoods, been doxxed and defamed online and in the press, criminalised by police and the courts, demonised and scapegoated by politicians, and been targeted with threats or instances of violence. Governments are passing laws stripping away basic democratic freedoms and civil liberties.

In many cases, this repression has been furthered by people and institutions that supposedly exist to further the cause of political, economic, social, racial and environmental justice. Trade unions, nonprofits, human rights organisations, religious hierarchies, media outlets and creative arts bodies have abandoned whatever commitments they had to truth, civil liberties, freedom of expression or social justice in the name of advancing an inherently violent ideology of religious and ethnic supremacy.

People of Palestinian, Middle Eastern and North African heritage, and those of the Islamic faith, have borne the brunt of this assault. While reports of skyrocketing levels of Islamophobic violence are met with indifference at best, politicians and the media now assign blame for antisemitic attacks to the Palestine movement by rote. 

It is against this backdrop that we stage 'Don't Talk About Palestine' – an event to hear of this repression first-hand from those who have experienced it, show solidarity with those who are facing it, and help plan the push back against it.

Four speakers will share their stories, followed by a moderated panel and Q&A session, with an informal meet-and-greet after proceedings have wrapped up.

• Sara Saleh is a human rights lawyer, writer and organiser. Sara resigned from the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2024, citing the organisation's hostility to her pro-Palestinian activism. The details of her resignation were subsequently leaked to right-wing radio and newspaper outlets.
• Omar Sakr is an award-winning poet and the Greens candidate for the seat of Blaxland at the upcoming federal election. Omar was one of three authors targeted by the State Library of Victoria over his vocal support for Palestine.
• Elsa Tuet-Rosenberg (she/they) is an educator, facilitator, performer and the Cofounder & Director of Hue: Colour the Conversation, an antiracism training and consultancy firm. Since 2024 she has been an ongoing target of Zionist lobbying and media attacks, defamation and repression after sharing information on her social media about a Zionist group chat that targeted the employment, opportunities and livelihood of people speaking up about Palestine.
  
• Rafaela Pandolfini is an artist, organiser and the founder of Sydney art gallery Suite7a. She also served as a Greens councillor on Randwick City Council from 2021 to 2024, including a year as deputy mayor. Throughout her time on Council, Rafaela received hostile media attention for wearing a keffiyeh to public events.

Minus operating costs, all money raised from this event will go to helping more than 80 Palestinian crowdfunding campaigns.