Much is heard currently about the Voice for our Indigenous people, which is a very welcome and urgent initiative seeking to redress centuries of racist abuse. At the recent Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Conference, Aboriginal and Palestinian flags draped together and Aboriginal voices were raised in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for an end to Israeli occupation.
We look forward to the time when the voice of Palestine can be heard in Australia and not strangled, as it was in 2017 when Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi had his visa revoked just hours before departure.
The Department of Immigration stated that, ‘… there is a risk that his presence in Australia would or might pose a risk to the good order of the Australian community.’ Both Aborigines and Palestinians are engaged in a struggle against colonialism. It is well past time for Australia to stop supporting Israeli apartheid and to honour the Australians who put their signatures to Amnesty International’s petition, signed by more than 200,000 people in 174 countries and delivered to Mr Netanyahu on March 21, which date commemorates annually the 69 peaceful anti-apartheid protesters who were killed by South African police on 21 March 1960.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
