Why ex-prime ministers’ letter will not calm protests against Gaza carnage

Peace with Justice will, as will getting rid of colonisation and apartheid

There is no denying that the murder of innocent Israeli civilians by Hamas fighters was a heinous act. Sure, Israel has the right defend itself by going after the perpetrators but the scale and intensity of Israel’s indiscriminate retribution has left Gaza in ruins, shocked the world and shaken the core of humanity.

According to human rights NGO, Euro-Med Monito, at least 15,271 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, including 3,561 women and 6,403 children by the end of November.

Over 32,310 additional people have been injured by the Israeli attacks, many of whom are in critical condition and unable to receive even the bare minimum of medical attention due to the Gazan health system’s collapse.

4,150 people are missing beneath the debris of buildings hit by Israeli air and artillery strikes, with little chance of their survival. Hundreds of bodies that cannot be recovered remain on the roads, particularly in areas where the Israeli army has conducted ground incursions.

Parts of Gaza have been reduced to rubble: vital infrastructure (hospitals, roads, schools, mosques and churches) destroyed and large areas ethnically cleansed, with civilians pushed into already overcrowded locations devoid of essentials of life.

The punishment is collective and totally disproportionate to crime committed by Hamas fighters. Human suffering is horrendous.

The sight of little bodies wrapped in tiny shrouds is enough to move even the most stoic observers but as long as ceasefire remains a taboo word in US and European countries (including Australia), many more children will be slaughtered.

They are complicit in this through their staunch support of the Israeli campaign against Gazans or their silence.

Some sympathisers of the Palestinian cause have understandably vented their anger and frustration on the Jewish community which has steadfastly supported Israel’s subjugation of the Palestinians against international law, not helped by some Jews going back to Israel to take up arms against the Gazans or set up homes on illegal settlements.

On a few occasions the conversations may have been rough and tactics a bit too aggressive on both sides.

Against the backdrop of rising social tensions, six former prime ministers (PMs) published a letter in SMH urging Palestinian and Jewish communities to love and respect each other, notwithstanding death and destruction brought about by the war raging in Gaza.

There is much wisdom in their collective plea as the success of multiculturalism in Australia rests solidly on the cohesiveness of its diverse communities. It is our badge of honour and we should all be proud of it.

The PMs narrative is framed in the context of a singular incident in which one party (Hamas) is the perpetrator of a murderous act and the other (the State of Israel) an innocent victim.

To avoid the spotlight being placed on Israel’s culpability in the raging conflict the PMs have conveniently side stepped the root cause of the problem – the colonisation of Palestine and the associated crimes of killing, home demolition, intimidations and denial of freedom of movement and expression.

Their assertion that Hamas engenders hatred against Israel is hollow because it was Israel who nurtured Hamas in Gaza as part of the ploy to weaken Palestinian resistance led by the PLO.

Israel’s brutalisation of Palestinians in equal measure promotes hatred.

Thankfully, Paul Keating, the former PM, had the moral rectitude not to put his name to the letter. So do the Greens and the enlightened Jews supporting the cause of oppressed Palestinians; they have adopted a principled position which consistently and unequivocally condemns egregious crimes committed by Israel and calls for an end to occupation and apartheid.

The subtext of the letter shows that the PMs are in denial; they don’t want the Australian public to understand that behind what happened on 7 October was pain, suffering and death caused by years of occupation, oppression, and injustice committed by the state of Israel.

They just want supporters of Free Palestine to be friendly to the Jewish community and pretend like everything is okay so they can continue to paddle with their ill-informed view that Israel can continue to colonise Palestine and unilaterally set its national borders at its absolute discretion based solely on its own security needs.

It is obvious that the fissures between the communities have deepened after watching families and friends killed before their eyes on the TV daily. Even if there is a peace treaty based on the two-state solution, these kids will never forget what they saw. Inevitably, a new generation will grow up full of hate.

The Australian government can heal the wounds between Jewish community and the free Palestine movement by being even-handed in the Middle East conflict, and by fulfilling its international obligation eg taking appropriate action against Israeli breaches of international law and war crimes committed.

It should condemn occupation and subjugation of Palestine and its people in unequivocal terms as well as the hideous apartheid, as it proudly did to dismantle this scourge on humanity in South Africa.

These measures call for a recalibration of foreign policy and possibly a redefinition of Australia’s relationship with Israel, based on our national interest that is strongly anchored to universal human values.

This will help achieve peace with justice and contribute to a more harmonious Australian society.