Janet Parker delivered the following speech on behalf of Jews for Palestine WA to the Boorloo Palestine rally on February 1.

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Today, I want to focus on four things.

First, the tragic Bondi shooting that targeted a Jewish Hannukah celebration on December 14, 2025. This shooting had nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with the Palestine solidarity movement.

The two men who fired on this event were found to be inspired by ISIS, and ISIS has never supported Palestinian national liberation. They were not known to the movement, had not attended the peaceful rallies opposing genocide; we may never know their exact motives.

Nonetheless, within hours, a chorus of right-wing voices began placing the blame on pro-Palestinian slogans and protests and policies.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the murders on Australia’s recognition of the state of Palestine;

Jillian Segal, Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, claimed there was an obvious link between the Bondi attacks and the 300,000 people who marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge against the genocide. NSW Premier Chris Minns insisted there was a link with pro-Palestine protests, banning protests for three months, while Victorian Labor jumped in to say it would give police special powers to do the same.

Because this is our first rally since December 14, 2025 I say here that we express our full solidarity with the victims and survivors of the horrific massacre at Bondi.

The Palestine solidarity movement, in all out rallies and events, has been and will continue to be, totally vigilant about the potential for anti-Semitism. It has consistently argued that our protest is not directed against Jews, but at the Israeli state which, since October 7, 2023, has continued to perpetuate one of the cruellest genocides in modern history.

Secondly, we are a movement of love not hate. The language we use and the slogans we chant call for an end to genocide, colonialism, dehumanisation, oppression and dispossession.

Two chants in particular........

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