PUBLIC STATEMENT

AAM and ANIC Condemn and are Deeply Concerned by the Israeli Occupation’s Ongoing, Year-long Genocide in Gaza

The Alliance of Australian Muslims (AAM) and Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) strongly condemn and are deeply concerned by the Israeli occupation’s continued brutal and genocidal war in Gaza – Palestine. The war has tragically claimed the lives of more than 42,000 innocent Palestinians (70% are women and children), injured close to 100,000 and more than 10,000 remain missing under the rubble or abducted by the occupation forces. Since September 2024, Israel has violated international law on another front: in Lebanon, over 2000 people have been massacred and around one million have been displaced from their homes and left stranded in the streets. As well, they have illegally stormed into the South of Lebanon, a nation-state, while being aided and abetted by many Western nations, namely the US.

As we reflect on the year-long war, 365 days of genocide, war crimes and illegal occupation, it is clear the Israeli occupation’s objective for the past 76 years has been to destroy Palestinian livelihood, displace them and occupy their lands. They have turned an entire city to rubble and destroyed the infrastructure of roughly 60% of residential buildings, 80% of commercial facilities, 65% of cropland areas, 65% of roads and 85% of schools in Gaza. Almost 1.15 million children in Gaza, 47% of the entire population, have gone a whole year without education. The Israeli aggression, war crimes, and occupation did not begin on October 7; they just escalated on that day. History dates the Israeli occupation war crimes to the first Nakba (Catastrophe) in 1948, 76 years ago.

Despite international laws working to protect aid workers, journalists and healthcare workers in war zones, the Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly ignored and challenged the regulations set by murdering 284 aid workers, including Australian, American and British nationals, over 500 healthcare workers and 125 journalists in a year. Israel acts as a country that is above international law as it raided the Al-Jazeera office in the West Bank and demanded its closure, preventing fair and accurate reporting. The Israeli government has taken extreme, unlawful measures to censor information from Gaza to further promote their biased narrative and justify their aggression, war crimes and illegal occupation against the Palestinians.

We call on all advocates for Palestine to continue their peaceful and civil efforts in support of the Palestinian people and their future. We extend our gratitude to all individuals and groups that have stood for justice and expressed sympathy and solidarity with the Palestinian cause in the past year and 76 years.

We urge the Australian government to take immediate action by condemning Israel for its genocidal actions and illegal occupation, imposing sanctions on the occupying force, supporting South Africa’s case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and immediately recognising the state of Palestine.

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