Published: 19 May 2026
Last updated: 20 May 2026
My father was a Christian Palestinian, born in Jerusalem, who immigrated to Australia five years after the nakba, at the age of 23. His story, like so many others, is etched into the painful 78-year-long occupation of Palestine.
For Palestinians, this remains a wound that has never healed.
Acknowledging that pain is not about blame – it is about truth-telling, and about opening the door to mutual recognition, dignity, justice and, ultimately, peace.
Our struggle is one of many in the broader landscape of injustice and suffering. It is a struggle very familiar to our First Nations peoples who are still suffering today, and to indigenous peoples all over the world.
It is a suffering experienced by the populations of Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and other countries.
I stand with those who are too often vilified or dehumanised, yet who continue to show strength, dignity, and an unwavering commitment to justice.
It is that same commitment to justice – and that same refusal to give up on one another – that draws me to the work of Standing Together in Palestine-Israel.
Change must start on the ground. Dr Shahd Bishara, one of the Palestinian leaders of Standing Together, notes, “The future of Jews and Palestinians is intertwined. We can either continue living by the sword – killing and being killed – or we can accept that our fates are tied together and embrace solidarity.”
Solidarity is not an abstract concept; it’s a real, difficult commitment to one another, and it’s the only way forward.
Comments4
SharonC9 July at 07:28 am
Continue to stand strong. It only takes one voice to start change. Although this change is well overdue. I wish you well.
Larry Abel21 May at 04:57 pm
While news is supposed to be about something, well, new, most often journalists report on what they expect to see. Palestinians and Israelis, Jews and Arabs, working towards a common goal of peace is alien to them and therefore must not be happening and hence, isn’t newsworthy.
Kate Mannix21 May at 12:54 pm
This reflection would be fine but for the reference to ‘the Naqba 78 years ago’. Does the author refer to the establishment of the State of Israel as ‘the catastrophe’? I am not sure how one moves on from there. Does the author now welcome and embrace the permanent existence of the Jewish State? Would the author agree that the only reason no Palestinian state exists is because the Palestinians repeatedly turned it down?
sheree waks19 May at 11:54 pm
A beautiful speech by a beautiful human! What a pity that the joint People for Peace event at Pitt St Uniting Church held on 3 May, involving multiple groups and individuals of various backgrounds uniting for peace received NO media coverage! It’s enough to make one somewhat cynical…Speeches and music were moving and inspirational!