Palestinians not collectively punished: Senator Birmingham
Palestinians are not being collectively punished by Israel for the atrocities committed by Hamas, opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham says.
Simon Birmingham
Cabinet minister Ed Husic last week said Palestinians were being “collectively punished for Hamas’ barbarism” in Gaza, after the terror group launched an attack on Israel on October 7.
Asked if Israel’s response amounted to collective punishment, Senator Birmingham replied it did not.
“It’s important that we do not allow moral equivalence to be drawn,” he told the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
“The attacks of Hamas against Israel were horrific.”
Senator Birmingham would not be drawn whether Israel was justified in cutting off critical supplies to Gaza in its war against Hamas.
“Israel is dealing with a very complex situation and I’m not going to prejudge the military strategy,” he said.
“Israel is well within its rights to act in ways that seek to disable Hamas.”
Mr Husic said others will need to decide whether Israel has breached international law.
“These are specific legal concepts that get worked out in terms of people’s contributions or country’s contributions,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
“But I do feel very strongly, as I have said on the public record this week, that innocent Palestinians are paying a horrible price, an utterly horrible price for Hamas’ barbarism.”
Asked if there was widespread concern within the Labor caucus about Palestine’s treatment, Mr Husic said he couldn’t answer that, but it was “very hard” for people to watch the suffering of others.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie repeated accusations the government was divided over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“We’re hearing too many voices out of the Labor cabinet and (prime minister) Anthony Albanese is not in control of his cabinet,” he told Sky News.
Mr Husic defended Australians wanting to protest to make their concerns known to politicians, but said there was no room for hate speech, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism.
“These are acidic, they corrode social cohesion, they have to be called out and dealt with,” he said.
AAP
It is refreshing to hear such a candid response from Simon Birmingham, as so many are deflecting the question or prevaricating.
Josh Burns, when asked the same question by David Speers, didn’t answer it directly and instead spoke of his friendship with Ed Husic and Anne Aly. Josh is a favourite of mine and I know he stands steadfastly with Israel and has been outspoken about it. But it’s important when questions such as this are asked that we answer them unequivocally. We have nothing to be ashamed of.