June 2025
Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association: Statement in Solidarity with Palestine
The Australian Women’s & Gender Studies Association (AWGSA) Executive Committee (2025-2027) condemns the horrific civilian violence and loss of life caused by Israel’s military, and the illegal presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. As an organisation committed to social justice, decolonisation, and anti-racism, we join current calls for a permanent ceasefire and international sanctions to Israel, and stand in solidarity with Palestinian liberation and self-determination.
We urge the Australian Government to back their recent words of condemnation with actions. Following the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, we join demands for sanctions, a military and trade embargo, and an end to the political protection of Israel. We also recognise the need to increase and allow humanitarian aid in Gaza urgently. We invite AWGSA members and our community to support and join collective actions for Palestine in so-called Australia (see e.g.: https://palestinetoolkit.org/; https://apan.org.au/events/).
In recognition of Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination, we honour the resistance, labour, care and pain of Palestinian feminists, women and non-binary, trans and gender-diverse people at the forefront of violence, dispossession and dehumanisation. As a first point of action the AWGSA Committee has donated $500 to The People Stand with Gaza fundraising campaign*
We denounce the weaponisation of accusations of antisemitism to silence support for Palestinian rights. We must maintain a distinction between Zionism and Judaism and reaffirm that calling for justice for Palestine is not antisemitic; it is an ethical and necessary stance against settler-colonial violence.
We also call on Australian universities, publishers and cultural institutions to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression, and to reject the repression and intimidation of those engaged in legitimate criticism of Israeli state violence.
Finally, we stand in solidarity with scholars, journalists, artists, educators, students and activists who have been censored, punished or silenced for speaking out loudly about the genocide. We reiterate that AWGSA stands against censorship, violence, antisemitism, racism, and Islamophobia.
We call on the Australian Government to immediately take concrete diplomatic, economic and humanitarian action, in accordance with international law and human rights conventions, to end the ongoing genocide and support a just and lasting peace for the Palestinian people.
In solidarity,
The AWGSA Executive
The Australian Women’s & Gender Studies Association (AWGSA) recognises it operates on unceded, sovereign lands of Australia’s First Peoples. We acknowledge Australia’s colonial history and its impact on families, communities, lands, and everyday lives of First Nations Peoples.
Note: The People Stand with Gaza fundraising campaign was set up by a wide coalition of organizations including Palestinian Youth Movement, US Palestinian Community Network, Palestinian Feminist Collective, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Al Awda PRRC, The People’s Forum, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Palestinian Assembly for the Liberation of Palestine, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. To donate, please see here: https://www.mecaforpeace.org/about-us/
- Emailed to Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong.
Pic: Hammam Fuad
