Media Release: Rally to Denounce Israel Lobby’s Cancellation of Antoinette Lattouf

18 January 2024 – for immediate release

Palestine supporters will gather at the State Library at 12pm on Sunday to protest the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf by the ABC.

Speakers will include writer and feminist icon Clementine Ford, whose award-winning podcast “Dear Clementine” was axed by Nova last month due to her outspoken support for the Palestinians.

“None of us are free while Palestine is under bombardment, living under apartheid and being ignored. None of us can be free when children are being bombed. When futures and entire generational lines are being wiped out,” wrote Ford in a new year’s Facebook post in which she urged Australian women to “stand up and be counted.”

Other prominent speakers will be Palestinian poet and playwright Samah Sabawi, and President of the Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association Ramila Chanisheff.

“The solidarity of women of differing nationalities means a lot to us,” said Mai Saif of Free Palestine Melbourne. “At a time when the Australian Israel Lobby has successfully pressured the ABC to sack Antoinette Lattouf, it is important for women to understand that the struggle for Palestine is also a feminist and a free speech issue.”

Following the speeches, the protestors will march through the streets of Melbourne, in coordination with Victoria Police, to Parliament House, where the rally will conclude.

On the following weekend, Free Palestine Melbourne will suspend its Sunday rallies for the first time since October to support the Invasion Day protest. 

“Indigenous leaders such as Gary Foley and Tony Birch have been among our most consistent supporters. Accordingly, we will be suspending our rallies and encouraging our supporters to march on Invasion Day in solidarity with our Aboriginal allies,” said Saif.

For more information contact: info@fpmelbourne.org