Two weeks before Christmas, on Wednesday 11th December, a group of gentle souls walked through Nimbin in a silent vigil to grieve for the people of Gaza, particularly babies and children, and to honour the Palestinians brutally killed by the Israeli genocidal regime. Eight men dressed in black and 14 women dressed in white, wearing Keffiyahs (Palestinian scarfs) gathered at the Imagine circle in Allsopp Park, in silence and in peaceful presence.
Megan James read a deeply moving poem expressing the harsh realities faced by women, children and families. ‘Write My Name,’ the poem by Zeina Azzam (a Palestinian American writer/activist) speaks from a child’s voice of ways to inscribe names on their legs as a way to identify the bodies of babies and children if and when they are killed. (Read the poem on page 8.)
From there a very slow, sombre walk began, spaced apart, heads down in single file circumnavigating the whole town of Nimbin, passing almost every business. Every few minutes a bell was sounded, the line halted, and a sign was held up inviting the public to pause to honour the deceased.
A stop was made outside the Farmer’s Market at the newly grassed area. As the group gathered in a circle there, the shrouds were laid on the ground and wailing and crying was heard. The whole vigil lasted over an hour and continued throughout the town while the maintaining of silence created a sacred space for viewers to consider and contemplate the suffering and erasure of fellow humans subject to brutal violence, genocide and ethnic cleansing.
One man (Chibo Mertineit) led the vigil, followed by a line of women who cradled white shrouds covered in imitation blood to represent babies and children who have been killed by Israeli weapons and starvation. The other men followed at the back of the line, supporting the women. They represented the men in Gaza who support and protect women and children, and when they cannot protect them from bombs, they are faced with retrieving their loved ones’ dead and injured bodies from the rubble every single day. They also represent the doctors, emergency workers, animal rescue workers, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers and sons.
This action was inspired by a group of women in Mullumbimby who performed a similar vigil last month, coming together to unite in their grief in public. In Byron on 17th December and Lismore on 23rd, Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine organised ‘Santa Doesn’t Slay’ events, intended to foreground the atrocities in Gaza to Christmas shoppers. The events also used bloodstained shrouds and a grieving Santa (pictured), who handed out pieces of watermelon.
Statistics
Since 7th October 2023, the Ministry of Health states that over 45,000 people have been mercilessly killed. This accounts for 70% of women and children, including 17,000 children. More than 4000 amputations and 2000 cases of spinal and brain injuries have been recorded. 1.9 million people have been repeatedly displaced amid relentless bombardments, with no safety even in “safe” zones.
As winter edges in, insufficient medical supplies and facilities, lack of food will mean that freezing, starving or suffering to death is likely imminent especially for babies, mothers and the elderly already suffering. There are presently 8,000 pregnant women in Gaza alone! This is exclusive of 73,000 pregnant women in the West Bank. These are numbers, but those lives are not.
Fundraiser
Our dear friend T will be travelling to the West Bank to document human rights and abuses with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-run non-violent direct action group. T declared, “By taking my body to the front lines, providing solidarity and amplifying the voices of Palestinian people, I aim to shed light on the brutal consequences of a system designed to erase Palestinian existence and history.”
Please search the following link to read more about her brave mission and to make a donation: Go Get Funding. All funds raised or donated will contribute to her travel expenses, camera equipment and living costs while away.
We may not be able to do it all, but if more of us contribute, every little action counts towards creating the change we need to see in the world. Nimbin Friends of Palestine, united with Northern Rivers Friends of Palestine, stand in solidarity and advocate for the rights of Palestinian people. We welcome anyone who wishes to support the fight for humanity, truth, equality and a Free Palestine.
If you feel you’d like to contribute in any way at all, please contact me via messenger or email: juliedelorenzo@hotmail.com or comment through our FB page.
