Businesses touched by support, as Israeli and Palestinian communities feel war’s impact

Australia’s Palestinian and Israeli communities are

, but their distress at the conflict has been met by community support.

Businesses told SBS News they have received financial and written support, although some are concerned about being abused or losing work for expressing opinions.

Social enterprise Palestine Fair Trade Australia’s products are in such demand it’s selling out, leading it to cancel upcoming festival stalls and suspend online sales.

The volunteer-run charity has been inundated with orders from Australians since the start of the latest conflict, convener Michael Shehadie told SBS News.

Meanwhile, the New Israel Fund Australia charity says it has received nearly three months’ worth of donations in three weeks.

Shehadie said: “What we’ve sold in October was 70 per cent of last year’s total sales. Our total for this year is now about 150 per cent of last year.

“The support has been amazing. The reason we closed our online shop was just so we can catch up.”

He said a lot of the traffic to its website had come from Google and to a lesser extent social media, and that previous customers had decided to buy more in support.

The organisation says it has received messages of support on social media and invites to new events, but also had a Brisbane market operator “pause” their participation “due to the current global situation”.

Convener of Palestine Fair Trade Australia Michael Shehadie said the organisation’s stocks won’t last until Christmas.

It’s unclear when Palestine Fair Trade Australia can get more products in.

The charity works with suppliers of olive oil and handmade crafts in both Gaza and the West Bank. It stocks a range of embroidered products, with sales supporting deaf children in Gaza.

Deputy convener Jennifer Killen said: “We don’t expect to be able to source anything from Gaza in the foreseeable near future.”

“We don’t know if the people we deal with have been killed because we can’t contact them.”

But she says it has never really been a straightforward process importing these products.

Olive oil from the West Bank sold by Palestine Fair Trade Australia. The charity doesn’t know when it will get more stock. Source: Supplied

Killen said on a trip

several years ago she tried to carry an order of soap through a checkpoint over the border, but it was temporarily barred by Israeli soldiers.

“Without Israel’s cooperation, nothing can leave,” she said.

Israel ended its permanent military presence in the Gaza Strip in 2005.

It has imposed a blockade on Gaza since 2007, tightly restricting the movement of goods and people.

The enterprise is hoping to receive supply from the West Bank, but olive harvests have been poor this year due to bad weather, and Killen says she can’t be certain whether the exports will make it to Australia.

Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas’ 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.

More than 14,500 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Hamas is a

, which has gained power in the Gaza Strip since winning legislative elections there in 2006. Its stated aim is to establish a Palestinian state, while refusing to recognise Israel’s right to exist.

Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group. In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly voted against a resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organisation.

Communities struggling and supporting

Palestinian-Australian Reem Borrows runs a coaching and consulting company specialising in leadership. She told SBS News she and many others in her community have been taking on pro-bono work to support Palestinian and Arab communities as well as reaching out to Jewish communities where possible.

Her work takes her across Australia into all communities and industries and not specifically in any one community.

Since 7 October her activities have included running a seminar on how to cope with trauma for the Australian Business Council, speaking at a fundraiser and holding a vigil in support of war victims.

She told SBS News she has heard from people here struggling to push on with everyday life, who feel they have been alienated and had been coaching them on “how to deal with the trauma and how to still keep your businesses going, and to cope with all of this”.

Reem Burrows is a Palestinian-Australian coach and consultant. Source: Supplied

She says she has been very vocal on Facebook in support of Palestinians and knows that this can result in her losing work opportunities.

“There’s people who have stopped following my business and that’s okay, that’s something I have to deal with.

“But I can’t sit back and watch and I’m tired of being scared of whether this is going to impact my business.”

Borrows migrated to Australia in 1983 when she was 13. Her parents have lived through

She says for people like her family, the current escalation of violence is triggering.

“There’s a lot of memories. And this just brings back all the bad memories. It’s like (my parents are) living their nightmare all over again.”

The war has triggered a dramatic escalation in Islamophobia and antisemitism in Australia, according to Islamic and Jewish organisations who

.

But it’s also propelled people into action and donating to charities.

Michael Chaitow is the executive director of not-for-profit New Israel Fund Australia, which raises money to support human and civil rights organisations in Israel.

He told SBS News the fund received about 20 per cent of its annual fundraising budget in three weeks, at a time when it normally only receives 5 per cent.

“It’s been remarkable and really, really touching to see the overwhelming outpouring of support from the Jewish community and from other communities who are wanting to stand side by side with people who’ve been impacted by this horrific and senseless violence.

“People are in mourning for lives lost on Israeli and Palestinian sides and wanting political resolutions, building just and lasting peace for all.”

The teams the company works with on the ground in Israel are finding “everything” a challenge amid extraordinary grief, evacuations and uncertainty about when people in kibbutzim (communal living arrangements) can return to their homes, he said.

He said people in Australia have been donating partly from a place of feeling deep sadness.

“People are really shocked and disturbed by this violence. And they see no end in sight, and that’s deeply worrying for people who are observing.

“Then of course, there are fears of antisemitism within the diaspora communities.”

Jeremy Levy is a partner at an Israeli law firm’s Sydney office. Source: Supplied

Jeremy Levy is a partner at an Israeli law firm’s Sydney office. His work inbox has been largely filled with kind and supportive messages from clients since 7 October.

Some of the firm’s workforce in Israel have been called up to the country’s military reserves and although this is having a significant impact on the business, commitments and service levels are still being met, he says.

Following the 7 October attack by Hamas,

.

Levy says that in his capacity as a director on the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, he’s seen a “massive uptick in community activity”.

“The Jewish community has been really hit hard by this, ” he said.

“People with family impacted and personal connection to Israel are very distressed by the situation and throw in social media, and Jewish people being targeted, and that’s a massive, massive concern.”

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