Published: 3 October 2025
Last updated: 8 October 2025
Read the response: Why we are holding a Palestine Solidarity Sukkot fundraiser by Tahlia Bowen, Rommy Weisler and Rebecca Parker.
This year, far from the first sukkot scattered in the biblical wilderness between Egypt and Israel, there will be a Palestine Solidarity Sukkot in Melbourne’s Central Business District.
Third on the list of invitees? Jews. First are Palestinians and then First Nations peoples, whom the anonymous organiser describes as “our guests, free to attend”. Missing completely from the invite? Israelis.
How can we host the other when we cannot meet the otherness within our own people? Where’s the line in the sand where desert wilderness ends and a sukkah begins?
As a new olah (immigrant) in Israel from Australia, I sit on my fence between two worlds and I look at my people. Everything is upside down. I have Israeli friends who have an easier time speaking to their non-Jewish friends overseas – even if they might be antisemitic – than their religious neighbours. Meanwhile, some Jews in Melbourne feel comfortable publicly judging and voicing criticism on Israeli society and military operations when they don’t understand a word of Hebrew. To whom are we all speaking?
Israelis are Israelis
In the case of the Palestinian Solidarity Sukkah, excluding Israelis means leaving out people this war affects and, importantly, who have the potential to be at the negotiation table to create real change.
Comments5
Elsie16 October at 03:39 am
This is a challenging article to follow (it frequently devolves into non-sequiturs), so I will restrict my comments to two things. The first is that I don’t understand this statement: “Some Jews in Melbourne feel comfortable publicly judging and voicing criticism on Israeli society and military operations when they don’t understand a word of Hebrew”. Does the author truly believe a diaspora Jew is not entitled to publicly express a view on Israel’s war crimes unless they speak or understand Hebrew? Separately, does she not understand that some Jews here take issue with the brazen ventriloquising undertaken by prominent Zionist bodies? I would add, that by her stated logic, I wouldn’t be able to publicly comment on China’s human rights abuses or Russia’s war unless I spoke or understood “a word of” Mandarin or Russian. So it makes no sense. Secondly, the suggestion that the folks from the Jewish Council of Australia have suddenly “come out of the shadows” and “dusted off their Jewish coat” is deeply offensive – the implication being, I suppose, that you’re not a “true” Jew unless you’ve lived the life of the author. But the author is obviously very young, so there’s room for growth.
Judy10 October at 02:47 am
(continued from Part 1)
Confusion #3: As for “Jews” being third on the invitation list and “Israelis” not appearing at all … Last I checked, Sukkot is a Jewish holiday, not an Israeli holiday. So not including “Israelis” – and my understanding is that “Israeli” == Muslim + Christian + Atheist + etc etc etc + Jewish people who have Israeli citizenship – seems no different to me from not including French or Chinese or American or Brazilian or any other nationality.
It appears that all nationalities are omitted, not just Israeli … I do not understand the problem here.
…
I am *NOT* criticising the author or any of the author’s views. I am just struggling to understand what the author is trying to say, as all I see is contradictions.
Peace,
Judy
PS – I find it puzzling that the Palestine Solidarity Sukkot, which appears to be a positively-intentioned event, purports to foster “inter-community connection”