Film Screening Fundraiser: Palestinians Don't Need Sidewalks

This is a must-see film. It was produced by Dare to Struggle Films and begins before 7 October, 2023 when three Australians, Lee Rhiannon, former Senator, Peter Slezak, Hon. Professor of Philosophy, who is Jewish and whose family members are Holocaust survivors, and Rand Darwich, Palestinian Australian student activist, travelled to Palestinian territory in June of that year.

It portrays some of the history of relations between Palestinians and Israelis prior to October 7th, 2023. In Australia many are familiar with what occurred on that date but not with the history of inhumanity against the Palestinian people that preceded it.

The film documents the lives of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, the development of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, the massive displacements, the forced evictions, the dispossession on spurious legal grounds, the demolition of homes and entire villages, the regular Israeli military ritual humiliation, constant harassment, thuggery and violence against the Palestinian population including children.

After October 7th the Israeli Government engaged in massive bombing attacks on Gaza causing heavy loss of life and destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, mosques, roads and the ability to safely pursue life.

The attacks on the Palestinian people were unrelenting for some 16 months until the two-month truce which the Israelis have now ended with even more violence, including the resumption of the bombing of Gaza and the denial of food, electricity and water.

This mass slaughter has increased the death toll, at time of writing, to over 50,000 people including many thousands of children.

The film reports ongoing massive demonstrations in Australia against the Israeli Government’s one-sided onslaught against an almost defenseless Gazan population. As the film depicts, many Jewish Australians are involved in being part of and helping to organise these demonstrations.

The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.In Israel, many thousands of Israelis continue to demonstrate against the actions of the Netanyahu Government.
The film addresses the bias of much of the Australian media in reporting the issue where interviewees who show any sympathy to the Palestinian cause are bullied or even shouted down.

Importantly, the film also goes on to expose Australia’s disgraceful contribution, through the sale of weaponry, to the war machine that is inflicting such relentless  devastation, indeed mass murder, on the people of Gaza. It exposes how the drive for profit overcomes any sense of the immorality of participating in what the International Criminal Court has no difficulty in describing as war crimes.

The film deserves a wide audience.