The following statement was made to the Rally on behalf of AJDS by David Zyngier. Joe's speech will soon be available on the AJDS website. The AJDS statement was extremely well received and was punctuated by applause from the rally audience. Welcome to all of you who have rallied today to support Peace and an end to Australia's involvement in the Nuclear Cycle. I acknowledge that we rally today on the land of the indigenous people of this country.
Today is the start of the Jewish festival of Passover.
This festival is also known as the festival of freedom and its central theme is the yearning of Jews for freedom from oppression and return to the land of their ancestors. Palm Sunday also marks for Christians, the pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem of Jesus and his disciples - a pilgrimage that took place every Passover in those ancient times. Each year Jewish families sit and retell the story of how freedom was regained and we remember what it means to be oppressed. But oppression is not only something that happened in ancient times and we need to move to the present and also remember the Palestinians who yearn for their freedom, their land and their right to return. The ME conflict is a continuous threat to World Peace.