Oh Fremantle, you’ve done it again
Fremantle has produced another Israel-bashing member of federal parliament.
Josh Wilson
Just days after previous Labor member Melissa Parkem who resigned from parliament in 2016 withdrew from her candidacy for the Perth seat of Curtin vacated by Liberal former Foreign Minister for her anti-israelviews, her successor in Fremantle Josh Wilson demonised Israel according to a report from The West Australian
Wilson holds the Fremantle seat by 7.6%. His Labor predecessor Melissa Clarke had planned to contest the Curtin seat which was won by the Liberals by over 20%
Co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin told J-Wire:
Alex Ryvchin
The ALP has long been home to a range of views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the policy of the party has always been to support Israel, and to recognise it as a key strategic ally, the only fellow democracy in the Middle East, whose technological, military and medical achievements enrich and protect the lives of Australians and people everywhere.
Views of the sort expressed by Mr Wilson strip the conflict of all context and fail to appreciate that Israel’s real security needs come in large part from dozens upon dozens of Palestinians coming through the very checkpoints of which he speaks to detonate themselves in Israeli cafes, nightclubs and restaurants ripping thousands of Israeli lives apart. Even so, every day, over 80,000 Palestinians cross into Israel without incident except when they are found armed or try to attack Israeli soldiers or civilians.
Mr Wilson is entitled to tour the region with an anti-Israel lobby group and make observations that will play to a hard-left audience, but we’re confident that Labor policy on this issue will continue to come from moderate voices with a long-standing comprehension of the realities of life and death in the Middle-East.”
Israel’s ambassador Mark Sofer told AAP: “The obsession with demonising Israel, which thankfully is the domain of the few, does not at all help the Palestinians and serves only to hamper possible rapprochement in the Middle East”.
