Shouldn’t it be before he arrives?
There are also protests before he arrives, demanding his invitation be cancelled, that have been announced in Melbourne and Sydney.
But announcing big protests for when Herzog arrives is intended in part to incentivise the government to cancel the visit, though I don’t think they’ll be dissuaded.
I wish there was something practical I can do other than just leaving the country.
There’s advocacy and activist groups who would love any help you can give, including donations.
Living here I’m part of the problem.
You can look at it the opposite way. That our government and industries are contributing to the problem means that we are capable of making a difference through our activism in this country.
guismo@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Who should I donate to? I sent you a private message ages ago about that. That’s the biggest thing I can do, where my money goes to.
I don’t want to do activism anymore. I did a lot before and that just affected me. I’m old enough to know that nothing will ever change, it never did. Things just change hands some times.
I’ve seen so many israeli and american invasions in my life. Each one of them made me think “this is it, the world won’t accept this one”. And in return we get more movies where the hero saves the world from the terrorists and the tickets sale grows new records again and again. And if you talk to any australian, they will tell you about those chinese, spying on you, killing everyone, they are going to invade next week and eat your dog! Or is it the comunists? The terrorists? The antichrist?
I admire those who still have hope, but I don’t. I just don’t want to be part of the problem. And right now, living here, I am. If the next bondi incident have me as one of the killed, I wouldn’t find it unfair. But right now I can’t leave, and although I try I can’t ignore this shit I’m involved. So if I go to any protest or anything it’s because I feel kind of forced. It won’t change anything, I am still guilty like most australians, but it makes me pretend I’m doing something about it. I don’t know…
zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 4 days ago
Sorry! Either I totally missed that, or wanted to have a think about it and forgot to get back to you, like I almost did with this one, haha
Political/Protest/Advocacy
If you’re looking for where to donate to help create political change, APAN is the peak body for Palestine advocacy in Australia. They do direct lobbying of politicians, media, advertising campaigns, free poster designs, etc. You can make a one-off donation, or set up a monthly donation (or become a paying member): apan.org.au
Unfortunately, donations to APAN are not tax deductible. It’d be nice if they were, because then a) you can afford to donate more because you’ll get some back on your tax return, and b) you can take some satisfaction in reducing the amount of tax you pay that our government uses to buy things from weapons manufacturers. Unfortunately, I think most groups that come under political lobbying and advocacy - at least for Palestine solely - aren’t going to be ‘Deductible Gift Recipients’ (DGRs).
Palestine Justice Movement Sydney is another political group (but also not a DGR): palestinejusticemovement.org.au
Free Palestine Printing give out free signs at protests, and they accept donations, so that’s a way you can help contribute to the protests even if you can’t get to them yourself. Again, they’re not a DGR, but they’re “100% volunteer-run and entirely not-for-profit”: freepalestineprinting.com
There’s obviously a bunch of local protest groups, you may find some that accept donations. Again, though, they won’t be DGRs (many won’t have any kind of formal structure at all).
The Australian Centre for International Justice has done a lot of good work on Palestine-related issues (most recently demanding an investigation of Herzog), but they work on human rights generally. Because of their wider scope, they are an endorsed DGR: acij.org.au
Direct Aid
There’s a whole lot of groups providing direct assistance to Palestinians. While we need to address the root causes of the problem through political change, I can also understand a lot of people prefer to focus on direct help to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian people right now. Most of these groups are endorsed DGRs.
Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA) provides medical aid, including medical missions, to Gaza: panzma.org
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) also provides medical aid to Palestine, with a focus on children: www.pcrf.net/australia
Olive Kids provides support to programs for children in Palestine: olivekids.org.au
Union Aid Abroad (APHEDA) has a specific fund for their work in Gaza: …raiselysite.com
Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA) helps Palestinians get to Australia and get settled in: para.org.au
That’s fair enough, I get that it can be exhausting. Being around like-minded people does help me feel a bit more sane, though, when so many people are indifferent, or outright hostile, about the issue.
We can’t win unless we fight, and sometimes it’s going to take a long time. I think there has been so much progress in public perception of Israel, though, in Australia and worldwide.
You and me both!
guismo@aussie.zone 3 days ago
Thanks for the very detailed post. I thought a lot since I posted that and I think I’m going to try again to go to Brazil (I had issues last time because of legislation changes).
I checked the link and I’ll donate to some, specially the ones working against israel, like APAN and ACIJ. While I would like to help Palestinians, I think it’s much more important to stop the murderer, who will keep finding other victims, than helping the current ones. And with the help of scum like the ones in australia, that will keep happening.
One bonus thing; Do you have a list of international entities? Most of the ones you gave me are in Australia. I think it’s more effective if my money doesn’t stay in Australia to help. Otherwise part of it goes to help, and part to kill more.
But once I, or at least my money, leave australia I shouldn’t have to feel guilty anymore anyway.
And yeah, there’s some progress in the perception of israel. And what did it help? The fuckers control the media and everything. Same with the americans, with a literal mafia boss threatening his slaves and Australia still does whatever they tell. The money continues to flow like a river, unaffected. Against russia, china and other dislikes of the US there’s all sort of boycotts, tariffs, blockades. But the ones controlling the game continue to do what they want, like they always did. There had been “perception change” many times before, like with PRISM, Sabra and Shattila, etc, and nothing changed. Quickly people forget and go back to worshipping their masters.
But if you have hope, that’s good. That’s the most sacred gift. One I wish I had.
zero_gravitas@aussie.zone 2 days ago
That’s a tricky one. If your goal is to avoid money going into the economies of the enabler countries - mainly rich/developed countries - a lot of international aid groups are based in those countries.
There’s international organisations that have country-based branches, though, so an option you might be happy with is donating to, say, the Brazilian branch of Médecins Sans Frontières, or of the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Even then, some of the money might flow back to supporting the head office in the US/Europe, I’m not sure. There’s probably organisations entirely based outside enabler countries, I just don’t know about them.
As you say, though, we need political change in the enabler countries, and that requires spending money in those countries to do lobbying and public education.
One thing I should probably have mentioned in my previous comment is the BDS movement. Boycotting is a direct way that public opinion can be converted into material effects. There’s the priority targeted boycotts (bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott), but if you want to, you can also get extremely granular and use barcode-scanning apps in your grocery shopping (bdsmovement.net/BDS-Has-Partnered-With-Boycat-App).
maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 5 days ago
This mob are fundraising for a information campaign, the amount seems about something you’d expect to pay for a full page add in a tabloid or similar but I’m not really sure that’s what it will be used for.
guismo@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Oh, a big bonus if you know; entities I can donate or invest on that are outside of Australia, and obviously israel and the US, or any of the 5 eyes if possible.
If my money stay on any of these countries, paying taxes and helping their economy, I’m just investing on murder anyway. If I don’t have a choice than so be it, but if I have I do everything I can to make sure my money doesn’t end on those hands.
That’s why being here I’m part of the problem. I use money, and that money fuels the australian evil. If I could live here without using any money then I wouldn’t feel guilty.
guismo@aussie.zone 5 days ago
I didn’t know who they are, but searching around it seems like the scum of Bondi don’t like them, so they must be good people www.southasiatimes.com.au/australia/jao48/
It looks kind of dodgy though, since there’s no link to official media, and no specific description of what the money is for.
Have you used that website? Is it generally trustworthy?