A weekly silent vigil in front of the Australian War Memorial aims to pressure the parliament to do more in trying to stop Israel’s attack on the Palestinian people.

The vigil, by Women In Black Canberra, began on Valentine’s Day and will continue every Wednesday evening until Anzac Day. 

Women In Black was started in Jerusalem in 2001 by two women, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who were calling for an end to the occupation in Palestine, says Michelle*, Women In Black member and former journalist. It is now a worldwide, non-violent network of women opposed to injustice, war and other forms of violence.

She says there is so much more the Australian government could be doing.

“One thing we can do is try and put pressure on the government to put pressure on its allies, Israel and the US, to stop this nightmare,” Michelle says.

“Look what they did in terms of Ukraine, they did so much more than they’re doing for this. Why are they not sanctioning Israel? Why are they not speaking louder to Israel to stop this?

“Lots of people ask what would we have done in a time like World War II, when Germans were attacking the Jewish people, and this is your answer.

“Anzac Day this year is a Thursday, Valentine’s Day was a Wednesday, the idea is to do every Wednesday up to and including the eve of Anzac Day, to draw on the symbolism of the war memorial.”

For most Australians, Michelle says the war memorial represents anti-war and anti-genocide sentiments, serving to remind the people “never again”.

“The schools around Australia bus their children to Canberra to visit the war memorial,” she says.

“The war memorial is used as a resource in the Australian education curriculum to teach children about what it means to be a good global citizen – stand up to tyranny, even if it’s at personal cost. Children are taught that. 

“We’re saying, well, walk the talk.”

Michelle says Australia is complicit in the arms trading, too, as one of its biggest partners, the US, is funding the bombing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

“It’s not a war, because it’s not two-sided… there’s a state against a civilian population,” she says.

“You see the massive protests around the world. 

“There isn’t much happening here, this is the nation’s capital. 

“In Britain, they had this demonstration recently where they laid children’s clothes end to end, just a little outfit here, outfit here, outfit here, to show the amount of kids that have been killed in this conflict, and it went on for five kilometres – five kilometres of kids lying side by side.

“Why is the Australian parliament not doing more about it?”

Given the international criminal court has stated it is probable the Israeli military is committing war crimes, Michelle says she wants to know if the Australian parliament has a plan to ensure Israelis who have been involved in such war crimes are not allowed to enter and holiday here. 

To be against the Israeli government is not being anti-Jewish, says Michelle. 

“It’s actually anti-Semitic to say that Israel represents all Jews, they certainly do not. 

“There’s a lot of Jewish people around the world who are against this.”

For others wanting to learn more about the conflict, Michelle says there is a weekly, Palestinian-led protest at Garema Place on Saturdays at 1pm, as well as a Friday night protest in Gungahlin. 

Women In Black is strongly symbolic, says Michelle, it’s also got the history based on Palestinian and Israeli women coming together. 

“It’s about peace,” she says. 

“It’s a silent vigil, which speaks to the silencing of the people who are being murdered.

“It’s a really powerful thing.”

*CityNews knows Michelle’s surname but has agreed to withhold it for her personal security. 

Women In Black will continue its silent, Wednesday vigil, the hour before sunset, on the Fairbairn Avenue and Anzac Parade roundabout until Anzac Day.