SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
australia
Will Popular Pressure Finally Push Western Governments to Stand Up for Palestine?
People's power is proving more than capable of swaying some governments to impose sanctions and sever diplomatic ties with Israel.
Sep 05, 2025
Is it finally happening? Is the West turning against Israel? Or are we, whether motivated by hope or driven by despair, simply engaging in wishful thinking? The matter is not so simple.
In July 2025, a significant number of countries and organizations signed the "New York Declaration," a strong statement that followed a high-level meeting titled, "Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine."
The conference itself and its bold conclusion warrant a deeper conversation. What matters for now, however, is the identity of the countries involved. Aside from states that have traditionally advocated for international justice and law in Palestine, many of the signatories were countries that had previously supported Israel regardless of context or circumstance.
These mostly Western countries included Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, among others. Some of these nations are also expected to formally recognize the state of Palestine in September.
Of course, one has no illusions about the hypocrisy of supporting peace in Palestine while still arming the Israeli war machine that is carrying out a genocide in Gaza. That notwithstanding, the political change is too significant to ignore.
In the case of Ireland, Norway, Spain, Luxembourg, Malta, and Portugal, among others, one can explain the growing rift with Israel and the championing of Palestinian rights based on historical evidence. Indeed, most of these countries have historically teetered on the edge between the Western common denominator and a more humanistic approach to the Palestinian struggle. This shift had already begun years prior to the ongoing Israeli genocide.
But what is one to make of the positions of Australia and the Netherlands, two of the most adamantly pro-Israel governments anywhere?
In Australia's case, media accounts argue that the friction began when the federal government denied an Israeli extremist lawmaker, Simcha Rothman, a visa for a speaking tour.
The precious blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza deserves for history to be finally altered.
Israel quickly retaliated by ending visas for three Australian diplomats in occupied Palestine. This Israeli step was not just a mere tit-for-tat response but the start of a virulent campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wage a diplomatic war against Australia.
"History will remember [Australian Prime Minister Anthony] Albanese for what he is: a weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews," Netanyahu said, again infusing the same logic of lies and manipulation tactics.
Israel's anger was not directly related to Rothman's visa. The latter was a mere opportunity for Netanyahu to respond to Australia's signature on the New York Declaration, its decision to recognize Palestine, and its growing criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Though Albanese did not engage Netanyahu directly, his Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, did. He answered the accusations of weakness by boldly arguing that "strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up."
This statement is both true and self-indicting, not only for Australia but for other Western governments. For years, and numerous times during the genocide, Australian leaders have argued that "Israel has the right to defend itself." Since blowing people up hardly qualifies as self-defense, it follows that Canberra had known all along that Israel's war is but an ongoing episode of war crimes. So, why the sudden, though still unconvincing, shift in position?
The answer to this question is directly related to the mass mobilization in Australia. On a single Sunday in August, hundreds of thousands of Australians took to the streets in what organizers described as the largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the country's history. Marches were held in more than 40 cities and towns, including a massive rally in Sydney that drew a crowd of up to 300,000 people and brought the city's Harbour Bridge to a standstill. These protests, which called for sanctions and an end to Australia's arms trade with Israel, demonstrated the immense public pressure on the government.
In other words, it is the Australian people who have truly spoken, courageously standing up to Netanyahu and to their own government's refusal to take any meaningful step to hold Israel accountable. If anyone should be congratulated on their strength and resolve, it would be the millions of Australians who relentlessly continue to rally for peace, justice, and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
Similarly, the political crisis in the Netherlands, starting with the resignation of Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp on August 22, 2025, is indicative of the unusually significant change in European politics toward Israel and Palestine.
"The Israeli government's actions violate international treaties. A line must be drawn," said Eddy van Hijum, the leader of the country's New Social Contract Party and deputy prime minister.
The "line" was indeed drawn, and quickly so when Veldkamp resigned, ushering in mass resignations by other key ministers in the government. The idea of a major political crisis in the Netherlands sparked by Israeli war crimes in Palestine would have been unthinkable in the past.
The political shift in the Netherlands, much like in Australia, would not have happened without the massive public mobilization around the Gaza genocide that continues to grow worldwide. While pro-Palestine protests have occurred in the past, they have never before achieved the critical mass needed to compel governments to act.
Though these governmental actions remain timid and reluctant, the momentum is undeniable. People's power is proving more than capable of swaying some governments to impose sanctions and sever diplomatic ties with Israel, not only through pressure in the streets but also through pressure at the ballot box.
While the West has not yet fully turned against Israel, it may only be a matter of time. The precious blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians in Gaza deserves for history to be finally altered. The children of Palestine deserve this global awakening of conscience.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Stop the Genocide': Thousands of Israelis Rally Against War and Famine in Gaza
"We stood proud and tall together because there is nothing that will stop the just civilian resistance to the genocide and occupation," said one protester.
Aug 24, 2025
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday in multiple demonstrations demanding an end to their government's genocidal war and engineered famine in Gaza and a deal to free the remaining hostages held by Hamas since October 2023.
Israelis—both Arab and Jewish—rallied in Habima Square holding signs reading "Stop the Genocide" and photos of some of the at least 115 Palestinian children who have starved to death in what the world's leading authority on hunger has officially declared a full-blown famine.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that police initially prohibited protesters from holding photos of Gazan children or Israeli hostages and also banned use of the word "genocide," but then allowed such displays.
The protest was organized by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee—an umbrella Arab Israeli advocacy group—with the participation of the Arab political parties Hadash, Balad, and Ta'al, and activist organizations including Peace Now, Breaking the Silence, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, and the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum.
Protesters implored the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off Operation Gideon's Chariots 2, the nascent campaign to conquer and occupy Gaza and ethnically cleanse 1 million Palestinians—approximately half the strip's population—and possibly confine them in a proposed concentration camp that would be built over the ruins of Rafah.
💥 #BREAKING | Today in Tel-Aviv: thousands protested against the genocide in Gaza. The protest included both Palestinian and Jewish activists.Chanting: "Gaza, Gaza, don't despair. We will end the occupation."
[image or embed]
— Resist 🕎🍉 (@antizionistjew.bsky.social) August 23, 2025 at 11:41 AM
"We only have a few days left to stop this, because if the invasion of Gaza begins there will be no deal," Yotam Cohen, brother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, told the crowd. "The invasion will blow up the negotiations and hostages and soldiers will die."
"Instead of saving lives Netanyahu is sentencing the living hostages to death and causing the fallen to be lost forever," Cohen added. "He is condemning us to a needless eternal war, sending solders to their death."
Other demonstrators condemned Netanyahu for repeatedly sabotaging ceasefire deals in order to prolong the war and delay his criminal corruption trial.
Saturday's protests followed last week's massive nationwide demonstrations in which an estimated 1 million Israelis took part.
In addition to the demonstrations in Israel, at least tens of thousands of people rallied and marched in cities across Australia on Sunday to demand an end to the Gaza genocide and sanctions on Israel. The protests followed the Australian government's decision earlier this month to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
"With Israel's announced ground invasion of Gaza, the call is clear: Australia must demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire, impose a two-way arms embargo, and act to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice," said Amnesty International, which backed the protests.
Despite Hamas' acceptance of a proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release, Netanyahu—a fugitive from the International Criminal Court wanted for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes—last week approved the invasion and occupation of Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Israeli Settlement Minister Orit Strook suggested that she and other Cabinet ministers "will vote to continue the war at the expense of the hostages' lives" and said that she would personally assent to the invasion and occupation of Gaza "even if it is clear that Hamas will execute the hostages."
The Gaza Health Ministry (GHM) said Sunday that Israeli forces killed scores more Palestinians across Gaza within the past 24 hours, including children and aid-seekers, as Operation Gideon's Chariots 2 ramped up, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks advancing into the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.
In addition to those killed by IDF bombs and bullets, health authorities said that eight more Palestinians, including two children, starved to death, bringing the famine death toll to at least 289, including 115 children. All told, the GHM says Israel's 688-day assault and siege on Gaza—which is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case—has left at least 229,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, with no end to the slaughter in sight.
Keep ReadingShow Less
US More Isolated Than Ever as Australia Says It Will Recognize Palestinian Statehood
"Australia's decision helps build the historic global momentum to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East," said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong.
Aug 11, 2025
Australia on Monday became the latest ally of the United States to announce its intention to recognize Palestinian statehood, leaving the U.S. more isolated on the issue than ever as it continues to unequivocally support Israel's genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Australia will recognize Palestinian statehood at next month's United Nations General Assembly gathering, a decision that came after the United Kingdom, Canada, and France made similar announcements in recent weeks.
"Australia's decision helps build the historic global momentum to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East," said Albanese and Wong. "The Netanyahu government is extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution by rapidly expanding illegal settlements, threatening annexation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and explicitly opposing any Palestinian state."
Australia will recognize a state of Palestine in September at the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said https://t.co/oOV7Hklv5X pic.twitter.com/tCCsD8wXYG
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 11, 2025
Australian supporters of Palestinian rights welcomed the government's decision while demanding more concrete action to withdraw the nation's support for Israel as it decimates and starves Gaza's population.
"Recognition is completely meaningless while Australia continues to trade, to supply arms, to have diplomatic relations, and to diplomatically protect and encourage other states to normalize relations with the very state that is committing these atrocities," said Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.
"Palestinian rights are not to be gifted by Western states," Mashni added. "They are not dependent on negotiation with or behaviour or approval of their colonial oppressors. Nor are they the crumbs to be thrown to Palestinians by Western states in lieu of taking the real action they are legally bound to take."
The U.S. and other nations that have refused to recognize Palestinian statehood are out of step with the overwhelming majority of the international community. Most U.N. member countries—147 out of 193—recognize a Palestinian state.
But under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has not only declined to recognize a Palestinian state—it has threatened at least one ally for moving in that direction. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, Trump said the Canadian government's conditional plan to recognize Palestinian statehood "will make it very hard" to reach a bilateral trade deal.
So far, a congressional effort to pressure Trump to recognize Palestinian statehood has garnered paltry support.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is leading a letter to the president arguing that "this tragic moment has highlighted for the world the long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination."
"Just as the lives of Palestinians must be immediately protected," the draft letter states, "so too must their rights as a people and nation urgently be acknowledged and upheld."
Just 18 Democratic lawmakers have signed on to the letter, according to Khanna.
"Every Dem should sign," he wrote on social media last week.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular