>Jason Damouni, the spokesperson for the organisation Palestinian Christians in Australia, traces his heritage to the village of Al-Damoun, a small Christian village between Nazareth and Haifa.
His grandfather was among those displaced from the village during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Mr Damouni spoke to The Catholic Weekly as Gaza was pummeled by Israeli air attacks and shelling in retaliation for the surprise assault by Hamas in southern Israel, killing at least 900 Israelis at the time of printing, and taking over 100 terrified hostages, including civilians, on 7 October.
He said Australia’s Christian Palestinians are worried for their “very vulnerable” friends and relatives trying to shelter within Gaza, and frustrated by over-simplified media reporting on the attacks by Hamas militia.
Mr Damouni criticised the level of urgency among political leaders to resolve the ongoing conflict as “non-existent.”
A friend in Gaza had already lost two relatives, both civilians, in Israel’s retaliatory attack and that his daily life in the occupied territory has been marked by discrimination, Israeli military checkpoints and regular airstrikes, he said.
“What we’re seeing now did not start in the past 48 hours,” Mr Damouni said.
>
>“Since 1948 so for 76 years people have been kept stateless and without the means to build an economy.
“They have been uprooted from their homes and squashed into an area, whether you are Palestinian that got pushed into the West Bank, or into Gaza, or completely dispersed from the entire land.
“Framing the conversation as if this has only happened recently, would be like writing a review without watching the full movie.
“We see headlines like ‘Hamas attacks Israel’ and it is framed in that sort of way but for us it was not a matter of if something like this would happen, it was only a matter of when, especially with Gaza.”
Mr Damouni welcomed statements from the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem calling for an immediate end to the violence and a search by the international community for lasting solutions for the Holy Land “based on equal rights for all and on international legitimacy.”
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Definitely not US Christians. They plead for an orange Dicktater. Strange ….
Like much of the world I consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation, yet a lot of Free Palestine supporters are quick defend them.
What I want to know is am I missing something? Is there a reason they’re only considered to be terrorists by western media? Is it true they have a doctrine saying they want to obliterate not just Zionist, but all Jews? Because if that’s the case, how can anyone defend them?
I do pray for them. A whole lot of innocents are being forgotten in this conflict
peace is possible when the palestinians learn that what they did on Saturday will NEVER advance their cause
[deleted]
Palestinian + Australian + Christian + Peace
This is getting to weird even for me.
If u really “Care” just go there and help them, not talking out loud.
We’re they crying for peace when Hamas was on its murder spree?
10 comments
>Jason Damouni, the spokesperson for the organisation Palestinian Christians in Australia, traces his heritage to the village of Al-Damoun, a small Christian village between Nazareth and Haifa.
His grandfather was among those displaced from the village during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Mr Damouni spoke to The Catholic Weekly as Gaza was pummeled by Israeli air attacks and shelling in retaliation for the surprise assault by Hamas in southern Israel, killing at least 900 Israelis at the time of printing, and taking over 100 terrified hostages, including civilians, on 7 October.
He said Australia’s Christian Palestinians are worried for their “very vulnerable” friends and relatives trying to shelter within Gaza, and frustrated by over-simplified media reporting on the attacks by Hamas militia.
Mr Damouni criticised the level of urgency among political leaders to resolve the ongoing conflict as “non-existent.”
A friend in Gaza had already lost two relatives, both civilians, in Israel’s retaliatory attack and that his daily life in the occupied territory has been marked by discrimination, Israeli military checkpoints and regular airstrikes, he said.
“What we’re seeing now did not start in the past 48 hours,” Mr Damouni said.
>
>“Since 1948 so for 76 years people have been kept stateless and without the means to build an economy.
“They have been uprooted from their homes and squashed into an area, whether you are Palestinian that got pushed into the West Bank, or into Gaza, or completely dispersed from the entire land.
“Framing the conversation as if this has only happened recently, would be like writing a review without watching the full movie.
“We see headlines like ‘Hamas attacks Israel’ and it is framed in that sort of way but for us it was not a matter of if something like this would happen, it was only a matter of when, especially with Gaza.”
Mr Damouni welcomed statements from the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem calling for an immediate end to the violence and a search by the international community for lasting solutions for the Holy Land “based on equal rights for all and on international legitimacy.”
[removed]
Definitely not US Christians. They plead for an orange Dicktater. Strange ….
Like much of the world I consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation, yet a lot of Free Palestine supporters are quick defend them.
What I want to know is am I missing something? Is there a reason they’re only considered to be terrorists by western media? Is it true they have a doctrine saying they want to obliterate not just Zionist, but all Jews? Because if that’s the case, how can anyone defend them?
I do pray for them. A whole lot of innocents are being forgotten in this conflict
peace is possible when the palestinians learn that what they did on Saturday will NEVER advance their cause
[deleted]
Palestinian + Australian + Christian + Peace
This is getting to weird even for me.
If u really “Care” just go there and help them, not talking out loud.
We’re they crying for peace when Hamas was on its murder spree?
Huh, funny
How do you expect peace when Hamas in power?