A group under the banner of Free Palestine Kyabram gathered to write postcards to local politicians to condemn the genocide in Gaza. Pictured are Rachel Doller and Zoe Cook with their postcards.
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Local, state and federal politicians can expect overloaded mailboxes soon, with Palestinan support groups joining forces to “flood the post” to condemn what they describe as the genocide against Palestinian civilians.
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Monday, October 7 marked one year since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel that killed 1200 Israel civilians and kicked off a year-long retaliation by the Israel government that has taken the lives of over 41,000 Palestinian civilians.
Some 13,000km from the Gaza Strip, a group in Kyabram is joining the condemnation of Israel by sending postcards and letters to Australian politicians asking them to speak up about the loss of life and disaster in Gaza.
The organiser of the Free Palestine Kyabram group, Hilary Grigg, has set up two events in the past to raise funds for Palestine Australia Relief and Action, including a documentary screening about the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and a raffle, which all together raised $2000 for the charity.
Postcards were sent to politicians at all levels of government asking them to represent the community members asking for an ‘end to genocide in Gaza’.
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Mrs Grigg wanted the group to take an active role in condemning the conflict by joining the Flood the Post movement.
Joining in the movement, a group of seven gathered in a home on Sunday, October 6 over tea, coffee and nibbles to write postcards with messages asking politicians to speak up about the conflict.
Flood the Post Australia said on its Instagram page that it was taking an active role because signing petitions and emailing politicians could be “easily ignored”.
“(Physical mail) takes up space, demands attention and creates visual volume,” its document of instructions said.
Mrs Grigg said between the seven people present they wrote about 30 postcards addressed to politicians at all levels of government, including Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“So we send postcards to our representatives … who are supposed to advocate for us, and advocate for their community members who feel really strongly on certain topics,” Mrs Grigg said.
“(We want) them to recognise that what’s happening in Palestine and now in Lebanon — it’s not okay, and it’s causing complete and utter devastation and lots of trauma.”
Following the success of her PARA fundraising efforts at past events, she decided to establish a group dedicated to fundraising for Palestinian relief and advocating for a stop to what the group describes as genocide in Gaza.
She said that by holding these events, she hopes that it creates a space for discussion among like-minded individuals who may not feel that there is a space to talk freely.
With those postcards set to arrive in politicians’ mailboxes soon, Mrs Grigg hopes that other community members can “use their voices” to lead discussion and condemn the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
