Labor MPs join political chorus calling for ceasefire
Federal and state Labor MPs have joined calls for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, joining more than 200 current and former parliamentarians and councillors in signing an open letter.
Israeli troops operating in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Dec. 11, 2023. Credit: IDF
The letter expresses support for “an immediate, permanent ceasefire and a just and lasting peace” and says international law and human rights must be upheld.
“For too long the human rights of the Palestinian people have been grossly violated, in the context of broader circumstances that also breach international law and pose a grave threat to international peace and security,” it reads.
“These violations began in 1948 with the violent displacement of some 700,000 Palestinian people from their homeland.”
It says the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel was “intolerable and to the shame of the international community”.
“It is beyond dispute that Israel is committed to policies designed to entrench the domination of one people over another in the territories of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories,” it continues.
“Attempts to deny this, or smear those who allege it, are an attempt to defy truth and reality.”
The deliberate or reckless killing of innocent civilians – by both Israel and Hamas – should form part of an investigation by the International Criminal Court, the letter says.
It condemns both the killing of civilians by Israel and the October 7 attack by Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation by Australia, and calls on the government to recognise Palestine as a state.
The Labor Party policy is to recognise Palestine but with no timeline attached.
The letter has been signed by former foreign affairs ministers Gareth Evans and Bob Carr, all current and former leaders of the Australian Greens and federal Labor members Louise Pratt, Fatima Payman and Maria Vamvakinou. 11 NSW Labor MPs have also signed.
Some Liberals and Nationals are among the signatories, including former Liberal immigration minister Ian Macphee.
The letter was co-ordinated by NSW Labor MP Anthony D’Adam and NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong with the help of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.
The federal Labor government has been walking a political tightrope between calls from the Greens to use stronger language to condemn Israel and attacks from the coalition over agreeing to a United Nations resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and senior members of cabinet have supported a humanitarian ceasefire as well as Israel’s right to defend itself following Hamas’ attack.
But they’ve also said how Israel defends itself matters and that it needed to act within the confines of international law.
The Palestinian death toll is nearing 20,000, according to Gaza health officials, with thousands more buried in rubble.
That at least 8000 of those killed were kids was unconscionable, Save the Children Australia CEO Mat Tinkler said.
“Violence against civilians, including children, is completely unjustifiable and pressure must be maintained to ensure adherence to international law,” he said.
He also called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the free flow of adequate and unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza.
About 1200 people were killed in the Hamas assault and more than 200 others were taken hostage, according to Tel Aviv.
J-Wire has called for Jewish community responses. There was no response from The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Zionist Federation of Australia.
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein labelled the open letter as “entirely predictable” and “wrongheaded”, targeting Israel.
“It notably omits any call on Hamas to release the hostages, lay down its weapons and unconditionally surrender. Removing Hamas is imperative for achieving peace in the region, given its explicit declaration to repeat the events of October 7 `again and again’.”
“The statement was penned by the usual anti-Israel figures who swim on the periphery of Australian politics, offering no practical contribution to the advancement of a long-term peace for both Palestinians and Israelis – other than to criticise Israel, the only authentic democracy in the region.
“It is also noteworthy that so many of those signing the statement were conspicuously silent on human rights violations in Syria, Iran and Ukraine – instead their focus was exclusively directed towards singling out Israel.”
Former Labor MP and former Chair of Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee Michael Danby commented: “Usual suspects make anti-Israel comments just as Australians expect of the Socialist Left.
None of those demanding Israel unilaterally lay down its arms can advise a liberal democracy how they deal with a jihadist death cult (Hamas)which raped, tortured, mutilated and murdered 1200 Israelis on 7 Oct.
Regrettably, these elements & the far left /Hamas demonstrators together with the likes of Bandt Burke & Carr seem to have twisted Australia’s arm not to provide a ship for the US protection of merchant shipping against the Iranian proxies – the Houthis.
So at the moment the US (admin& congress) go out in a limb to mandate US Virginia class submarines we squib on the Yanks in providing a single ship which the Australian Navy said yesterday we could provide !”
AAP
Colin Rubenstein succinctly states all the important and obvious points in regard to this letter. Important and obvious, but completely ignored by the haters and the biased.
Reading the letter, my eyes glaze over with the expected detail before me – have read it and heard it ad infinitum.
The statistics used of Gazan civilian deaths, lamentable whether they are correct or far less (as they might well be given they’re issued by Hamas’ Health ministry), should be considered in the context of Hamas’ responsibility for its own people and how they use them, and even further, if anyone wants comparison, of the 30,000 civilians in London killed by German bombing in just one month early in World War II and the decimation of Dresden by Allied bombing later in the war. Don’t bandy statistics around without context to attach them to. And don’t comment on war as if it isn’t war.
Please give us the response of ECAJ and ZFA if it comes through, which I hope it does.
You do not hear anyone, worldwide, calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine, Sudan, or any of the other African countries at war for years.
Only for Israel the Jewish state, is there demands for ceasefire.
Our history isn’t too hot…….look up the meaning of annihilation and connect to our first nation people.
Not to mention the secret nuclear shame and betrayal of our troops and country.
Frank Walker
Maralinga