‘They should be ashamed’
'Statements like ‘Death to Israel’ are an explicit call for the infliction of death.'
THE editors of a South Australian student publication “should be ashamed of themselves” for a piece that ran earlier this month declaring “Death to Israel”, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) says.
Adelaide University student magazine On Dit published the article titled “For Palestine, There is No Ceasefire”, on August 4 in the wake of Israel’s Operation Breaking Dawn against Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza.
The piece, written by one of On Dit’s editors, Habibah Jaghoori, called for the abolition of Israel, saying, “Bombings and other various grades of military assault are a common Israeli practice that has been used to colonise and ethnically cleanse Palestinians since the illegitimate establishment of the Israeli state in 1948.”
ECAJ co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said, “Statements like ‘Death to Israel’ are an explicit call for the infliction of death. Israel isn’t going anywhere but this directly endangers every Jew in this country.
“The Jewish people know all too well that there are smallminded bigots in this world who long to see innocent people killed and homelands in flames,” he added.
“But when a student paper makes an editorial decision to platform such people, and amplify their stupidity and their malice they must be held accountable.”
The article described the three days of conflict in early August as “an ongoing experience of horrific violence for the people of Palestine, as the genocidal state of Israel launched a bombardment campaign on the Gaza Strip”.
“The target of this Israeli brutality was Palestinian homes and refugee camps,” Jaghoori wrote.
Jaghoori also wrote that “the recent bloodshed in Palestine represents what Zionism is … A military occupation, a colonial project, a Western capitalist endeavour and ethnic cleansing in practice.
“As long as Israel exists then the genocide and occupation of Palestine will exist,” Jaghoori wrote.
“The solution to achieving peace and bringing forth justice for Palestine is to demand the abolition of Israel.
“Free Palestine and Death to Israel.” Ryvchin said, “The editors of this paper should reflect on what they’ve done. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
On Dit Magazine is funded by the Adelaide University Union, and is published fortnightly during the semester.
On Dit Magazine has been contacted for comment.
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