We, the Board of Overland literary journal, make the following statement in support of Editors-in-chief Evelyn Araluen and Jonathan Dunk and the entire Overland staff.

We are a diverse Board made up of writers, unionists, lawyers, academics, activists, and arts industry workers. Our Board includes First Nations peoples as well as members of Australia’s Jewish community.

In response to recent attacks on Evelyn and Jonathan, we state unequivocally that we as a Board stand in solidarity with the Overland editorial team and their staff.

We believe that it is wrong to turn away from the suffering of Palestinian people. We believe that Overland should not shy away from criticism of the extreme violence of the Israeli military forces and the collective punishment of civilians in Gaza. We fear that we are witnessing a genocide unfold in plain view, and believe that Overland and the broader community have a moral responsibility to call attention to this horror.

We are appalled by the organised attempts to bring down this publication. We decry the attacks on our colleagues’ livelihoods and denounce the anti-worker threats made to pro-Palestinian creatives and activists in this country. We express our staunch solidarity with those affected.

As Overland’s staff, volunteers, and Board members have done in generations gone by, we too stand alongside our Palestinian friends, colleagues, and comrades, and other marginalised and misrepresented groups and individuals.

In particular, we thank the Palestinian, Middle Eastern, anti-Zionist Jews, and First Nations contributors who continue to speak out against injustice in the face of those that wish to silence them. We support our editorial team to continue amplifying your voices. We support our editorial team to continue fostering the discourse that we ought to expect and uphold in any democratic society. We will ensure that Overland continues to ground public debate in the collective and common experience of humanity.

It ought to go without saying, but as has been stated previously by our editors, the Board of Overland also denounces any act of terrorism, including the atrocities of 7 October 2023.

In the face of express threats made to our funding and to the livelihoods of our staff, we thank our readers and subscribers for their ongoing support of Overland.