Australia is continuing to avoid any possibility that it might stand up for Palestinian sovereignty and human rights with its behaviour at the United Nations.
One of only two nations to vote against a motion (which passed 29–2, with 14 abstentions) to hold an inquiry into Israeli actions in Gaza in recent weeks, Australia’s politicians have responded in mixed ways to the bloodshed and death toll in Gaza. While the monumental horror of recent weeks seems to have subsided, or at least disappeared from mainstream media, Israel even now is continuing to shell Gaza and block Gazan fishing boats from going to work.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has called for the Malcolm Turnbull government to explain why Australia voted against an independent inquiry which, given the damage done to Israel’s reputation by its violent response to unarmed protests, would surely benefit Israelis and Palestinians. He added concerns about the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements, saying that it undermines the two-state solution.
Albanese gave no hint whether the precedent set by the passing of a motion to recognise the state of Palestine at the NSW Labor conference will be echoed at the national conference, but repeated his personal call for a two-state solution along “recognised” borders.
Greens politicians have once again spoken most strongly against the violent treatment of Palestinians, with MP Adam Bandt and leader Richard Di Natale calling for an end to the siegeof Gaza and for Australia to recognise Palestine and Palestinians’ right to return home.
Read the article by Lisa Gleeson in Green Left Weekly.