Amar’s (not her real name) family moved every six weeks – back and forth in the Gaza Strip and from tent to tent – seeking safety from Israeli military bombardments.
But no matter where they flee, nowhere is safe, because Israel’s declared ‘safe zones’ are shrinking and there are more and more Israeli attacks
In December, Amar’s aunt was shot in the stomach by an Israeli sniper and her daughter was shot in the head while trying to recover her body.
The attack on the Holy Family parish in northern Gaza was condemned by the Pope as an act of “terrorism”. Amar said: “If you are not safe in a protected place of worship, how can you be safe anywhere else?”
Israel claimed responsibility for the attack, citing the presence of a rocket launcher in the parish.
Those sheltering in the parish, as well as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, have said it is the place where many Christian families have sought refuge. .
Amar’s cousin, his wife, elderly mother-in-law and six children — aged between four and 18 — are currently sheltering in a tent in Nuseirat. She has been unable to obtain visas for them to travel to Australia.
They are nine of the 37 remaining members of her family in Gaza.
“The fear has increased, and the urgency has increased,” she said.
‘The Australian government tried to deport us’
Amar, who did not want to use her real name for fear of jeopardizing her family’s chances of getting a visa, relives the trauma of her childhood as she watches her family and thousands of others have their visas rejected.
She was born in the Dbayeh refugee camp in northern Beirut, where her grandparents fled in 1948.
When she was born, her family had already lived there for decades.
Israeli attacks on several refugee camps, including Dbayeh, during the Lebanese Civil War in 1982 killed thousands of people.
According to Amar, 22 of the dead were relatives of her mother.
Before the civil war, the Palestine Liberation Organization was based in Lebanon and carried out attacks on northern Israel.
later found then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon “personally responsible for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge” from the attacks on refugee camps.
Amar and her siblings play in the yard of their suburban home in 1989, before they were arrested. Source: Delivered
Amar, her parents and two siblings sought refuge in Yemen and Cyprus before arriving in Australia on holiday visas.
They extended their visas every three months and applied for humanitarian protection.
One evening, immigration authorities picked up Amar and her family from their suburban home and held them in a building next to an airport.
“We were about to sit down to eat. That night it was spaghetti bolognese. They were going to throw us in a van and take us to this center,” she said.
“My neighbor said, ‘Let the children eat first, let them enjoy the food first before you do this to them.’
“They had to stand there and watch us eat before we were arrested.”
The family found a lawyer who filed a case against their detention. Amar said some of her earliest memories are of being inside a courtroom.
In 1996 they were granted Australian citizenship.
“We had very limited income and limited opportunities, but we were happy because we came from an area where we depended on UNRWA food vouchers,” she said, referring to the
Peter Dutton doubles
Earlier this month, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said .
He claimed that they could be ‘hidden Hamas’ collaborators or Hamas sympathisers. These comments were described as ‘racist’ by independent MP Zali Steggall and Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in response, warned of the danger of “stereotyping and discriminating against people based on their race or their religion”.
“People know that people from Gaza, or actually the West Bank, are certainly not automatically Hamas supporters and should not be seen as such,” Albanese said.
At least 40,334 Palestinians have been killed and 93,356 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.
According to Israeli counts, the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 killed 1,200 people.
The significant escalation is the latest in a long-running conflict between Israel and which has governed the Gaza Strip since the last elections in 2006.
Arrivals from Gaza ‘show trauma’
Suzan Wahhab, chair of Palestinian Christians in Australia (PCIA), told SBS News that 400 of the nearly 1,300 Palestinians who have successfully arrived in Australia since October 7 are from the Christian community.
With the help of a government housing and settlement grant, she provides shelter to 47 families, both Christian and Muslim.
“I have been to most of these people’s homes. I have not heard anyone who had sympathy for Hamas,” she said.
“The only thing these people are worried about is survival. They have lost everything.”
According to the Palestinian Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, the Israeli attack on Gaza since October 7 has already killed 3 percent of the enclave’s 1,200 Christian residents.
Wahhab fears the community is facing extinction.
She said Petter Dutton’s comments obscure reality and shift blame onto a deeply traumatised community.
“I think he is fooling the Australian public because he is not stating the real reason why people are leaving Gaza in the first place.
“Gaza has become uninhabitable.”
Amar’s cousin said his house had been looted and destroyed by the Israeli army. Source: Delivered
The PCIA is lobbying the government for more help and Wahhab said mental health care is at the top of the agenda.
“The people I met have been staying in two churches since the first week of October,” she said.
“Some people say, ‘I don’t like sleeping in a bed.’ Others don’t want to shower with hot water.
“We think they show signs of trauma, but none of these people have received any counseling or therapy.”
The Australian Visa Process
Since October 7, More than twice as many applications (7,111) were rejected.
The visas issued are subclass 600 visas, or tourist visas. These visas do not entitle you to work, study, access to Medicare or other social assistance.
Isobel McGarity, Supervising Senior Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Case Work Service (RACS), said tourist visas were not appropriate for people fleeing a war zone like Gaza.
“A visitor visa, as the name suggests, is intended to allow someone to come to Australia as a visitor, whether that be as a tourist or to visit family or friends,” she said.
Amar’s cousin’s neighborhood has been completely destroyed by months of incessant airstrikes, she said. Source: Delivered
“You must demonstrate that you intend to visit and that you are able to return home.”
RACS is calling on the government to consider emergency visas instead.
For comparison: Ukrainian citizens
Once on land, they were offered a subclass 786 visa: a temporary humanitarian visa that allows them to work, study and access Medicare, special benefits and full work rights for three years.
and were later granted permanent refugee visas, allowing them to become permanent residents and start a life in Australia.
Amar’s parents in Lebanon in 1987. Source: Delivered
Amar believes that distinguishing between Palestinians based on religion is polarizing and does not accurately reflect the collective sense of identity of many members of the community.
“Israel has bombed our churches, detained our priests, shot a church bell ringer in 2002 — which, I might add, was long before October 7. That’s not limited to Gaza, “, she said.
“But we are all treated like this: Muslim and Christian.
“We all want peace and a just existence.”
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