This is a public statement to communicate where Passionfruit stands on the undoubtable genocide and Israel’s ongoing oppression towards the people of Palestine. And that despite the loaded rhetoric surrounding this issue, we will not stand for the colonisation and decimation of Palestinians.


Why this statement has come 100+ days into the genocide.

Immense privilege has informed our silence over the last 100+ days. We aren’t proud of it, and we don’t use it as an excuse, but as recognition of our delay in a public stance of solidarity. We have been generously given the opportunity to provide clarity on our position from members within our community, and it is our responsibility to meet this generosity with an apology, accountability and action. In short, we’re here to do better.


Why it’s important that we show our stance on Palestine.

We stand with the people of Palestine, the oppressed communities who have been systemically, strategically and mercilessly exiled from traditional lands, for the last four months – and for almost a century.


Passionfruit customers and people within our community have a right to know who they’re investing in. As a business that aims to foster constructive conversations about issues concerning human rights, justice and autonomy, we felt that it was our responsibility to make our solidarity known.


Yes, we sell pleasure products. But, beyond the superficial, Passionfruit is a business founded on humanity. 

Connection, vulnerability and possibility, curiosity, compassion and collaboration. These values inform our partnerships, the voices we platform and the things we promote in our communications. Due to the nature of the products and education we provide, we inherently gain and profit from some of the most intimate and vulnerable moments of our customers’ lives.


Here’s the thing: pleasure is deeply political.

Whether it be entertaining, engaging or educating, everything we do at Passionfruit is in constant conversation with political pillars like sexual health and reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, sex worker rights, disability rights, queer rights and the nuances that influence the justice of these issues. Being at this intersection, with some of our most vulnerable community members, puts us in a position of power and greater civil responsibility than an ordinary retail business usually would. It’s the ticket we chose when we made the decision to care about sexual, sensual and intimate wellness; a privilege in itself. We are (in itself) a political space; political community members who stand with political justice. After a continued history of occupation and genocide, what is currently happening in Palestine is inseparable to all of the values interwoven in our Passionfruit’s foundations.


Sexual rights are human rights.

Yes, even if it is simply serving someone ‘body safe lubricant’. While it may seem absurd to boil it down to something as trivial as ‘body safe lubricant’, our intentions stem from the same place: resistance against long-standing legacies of harm, violence and prejudice that discriminately decide who does and doesn’t deserve safety, basic healthcare, and fundamental human rights.


When an entire population of people have been oppressed for generations, deliberately displaced by abusive operations of genocide, where systemic structures maintain unshakeable power, as people fall into the marginalisation of all of the social justice issues we stand for, they are denied access to the most basic human rights; the same rights we fight for directly and indirectly every day.


Always was, always will be. From the river to the sea. 

These sentiments ring even truer in so-called Australia where First Nations people continue to fight against a long-standing history of colonisation; an undeniable parallel for Palestinian people. The only current difference being that communities in Palestine are being bombed, raided, and completely decimated in figures that surpass recorded definitions of genocide to date. And while our social feeds and the global humanitarian stage cries genocide, oligarchs are funding warfare by the millions; gleefully admitting to the conscious intention of the eradication of Palestine.


Action and accountability.

We make no reasonable excuses for our absence on this matter to date and recognise the privileges we have been afforded from it. We also recognise the responsibility to do better, to demonstrate our accountability, our actions and transparency of this process. We understand that this comes with valid disappointment from members of our community. With humility, we accept that we need to prove our solidarity with Palestine and all First Nations people, through our actions and our words from here on.


As part of this commitment, we will be further amplifying the existing voices, knowledge and groundwork of Palestinians and First Nations people, especially on the subject of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, self determination and liberation from oppression.


📚 Here are some reputable resources that we have found informative, credible and helpful in educating ourselves and learning more about the developing situation in Palestine.


LEARN

Advocating for Palestine
 Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN)
Decolonize Palestine

Palestinian Youth Movement
 All the Walls Will Fall: 2023 Palestine Liberation Resource List

Mapping A Field of Sensitivity by Co Culture (An Exercise & Educational Resource)


FOLLOW

@Freepalestinemelb
 @apan4palestine
 @thesitintifada
 @forpalestine__
 @loudjewcollective
 @unionistsforpalestine

@mhwfp

@bukjeh
 @colourtheconversation

@eid_yara
 @wael_eldahdouh
 @wizard_bisan1
 @motaz_azaiza
 @byplestia
 @eye.on.palestine
 @letstalkpalestine

@Jewishvoiceforpeace


SUPPORT

Emirates Red Crescent

@palestineasdiqa has created a regularly updated and verified list of causes and communities to support and donate towards. Of course, please do your due diligence.

Free Palestine: A collective response from mental health practitioners.


To our community. Thank you for keeping us honest. 

In the same way that individuals from our community have approached us to declare our stance on the genocide, impacting our actions, we’ve realised the influence of singular efforts on the Free Palestine movement. Our community recognises the ways that those (businesses) with greater access to power (through financial, social status and digital visibility privilege) also hold the responsibility to answer the call. And that our community will responsibly take their money elsewhere, to someone purposefully using that privilege, to do better against the most unimaginable of crimes. If this is not our wake-up call, what is? This is our declaration; “We stand with Palestine, and a world that will not allow for us to repeat our darkest chapters – towards any human – ever again”


Fostering a dialogue.

Naturally, a statement of this calibre will attract discourse. We welcome your constructive feedback and respectful dialogue via hello@passionfruitshop.com.au and request that you use 'Response to Palestine Statement' as the subject line.


To reduce abusive rhetoric and uphold the psychological safety and wellbeing of our team, we have made the collective decision to temporarily switch off blog and social comments.


Our team aims to respond to respectful conversations in a timely manner (approx. 3-business days). Any abusive, aggressive or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated in-store or online.


Depending on the volume and content of these conversations, we will reassess our response period and approach in a reasonable timeframe.