Labor’s Palestinian shift wrong and bad politics, too

Those in the Labor Party with a sensible view of the Middle East have not yet accepted that a proposed NSW resolution — demanding a federal Labor government immediately recognise a Palestinian state — will be translated into a similar, binding resolution at a federal ALP conference next year.

For one thing, the timing of that federal conference is not certain. It could well be held in the shadow of a looming federal election. That may inject a dose of realism into the party.

But the long-term trend within the Labor Party is clear: the internal culture of the ALP is trending leftward, and organisational Labor is becoming an anti-Israel party. This is damaging for Labor, as Israel still enjoys wide support in Australia and identifying with that acrid range of international forces that hate Israel can only hurt Labor.

It is wrong in principle and likely to be bad politics.

Read the article by Greg Sheridan in The Australian.

[The image above is for ‘Labor for Palestine’ which was launched in April 2004 by New York City Labor Against the War and Al-Awda NY.]