Australia working to change Palestinian resolution
Australia is working with other countries to amend a draft United Nations resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory within 12 months.
Penny Wong
The proposal by the Palestinian Authority, wants Israel to comply with an International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion handed down in July, which found the occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank unlawful.
It comes to a vote at the UN general assembly on Thursday AEST.
Australia is yet to report its position, but on two previous votes on the issue, backed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war on Gaza, and one which supported Palestinian membership.
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government wanted as many countries to agree to a “practical path” to a two-state solution and self-determination for the Palestinian people.
“We want this resolution to give Israel and the international community a practical way to respond to the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve engaged constructively in the hope of achieving that.”
Independent senator Fatima Payman, who quit Labor over its Palestine stance, has called on her former party to back the draft resolution.
In a video posted to social media, she questioned how many “more empty statements” the Albanese government would make.
“One statement after another, nothing to show for all empty words,” the WA senator said.
“Parents in Gaza do not drop their kids off at school. They drop them into mass graves.
“What is this magic number you’re waiting for? 50,000 killed? 100,000 killed?”
Senator Payman said the government now had the opportunity to take meaningful action.
“You play the semantics of your media statements and act like you’ve achieved something. It has achieved nothing for 11 months,” she said.
“We must back the UN resolution … without watering it down, and demand an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Professor Ben Saul, Challis chair of international law at Sydney University urged greater transparency in disclosing the nature of arms transfers from Australia to any other country.
“There is no justification for the current level of secrecy,” he said.
Chris Sidoti, member of the UN Independent international commission of inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said Australians serving in the Israeli military were at risk of prosecution, just by the fact that they were a part of an “occupying military force”.
Rawan Arraf, the Executive Director and Principal Lawyer at the Australian Centre for International Justice, said her organisation planned to refer Australians serving in the Israel Defence Forces to the Australian Federal Police.
More than 1200 Israelis were killed when Hamas militants launched their October 7 attack.
By: Tess Ikonomou/AAP
