The front-page ad appeared wrote: ‘Jewish Australians say NO to ethnic cleansing’ on Monday [GETTY]
Five hundred Australian Jews have called on their government to reject US President Donald Trump’s plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza.
A full-page advertisement published in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Monday said: “Jewish Australians say NO to ethnic cleansing”, featuring hundreds of signatures.
Corrinne Fagueret from the Australian Jewish Women 4 Peace Action Ready Group, and one of the organisers, told The Jewish Independent that many Jews wanted to speak out and show their compassion for Palestinians, adding that more people wanted to sign the petition than there was space to sign.
“Jews have a very specific experience that’s in our genes and in our family history of racism and ethnic violence,” Fagueret told the publication.
“For this reason, we have a moral obligation to speak out about what is happening in Gaza and Trump’s plan for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip.”
“We must speak out wherever there is ethnic violence happening. At the moment, it’s about Palestinians and it’s about standing in solidarity with Palestinians. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel the suffering of Israelis and of the hostages and the hostage families. We can feel compassion for both sides and that doesn’t mean we are less Jewish.”
Human rights lawyer Sarah Schwartz wrote on X she was “proud to be one of 500+ Jews” to sign the advertisement.
“Our government must take material steps to support these rights, and reject calls for ethnic cleansing and genocide,” Schwartz added.
“The fact that so many were willing to sign their name, standing on the shoulders of our Jewish ancestors who stood up against injustice, shows that we can no longer be ignored!”
Other signatories include lawyers Josh Bornstein and David Heilpern, musician Ben Lee and writer Anna Fienberg.
President Trump caused backlash in January after floating a plan to forcibly displace Gazans to Jordan and Egypt after taking power, a plan both nations have rejected.
The president has since partially backtracked on the idea, saying it would “work” but not be imposed by force.
