Political pressure on the Albanese Government is growing as it is revealed that 318 Australian political leaders, including a large number of serving Labor federal, state and territory MPs, have now joined former Foreign Ministers Bob Carr and Gareth Evans in demanding a reassessment of Australia’s relationship with Israel, permanent ceasefire and Australian diplomatic recognition of the state of Palestine.
Signatories to the Statement include 86 current federal and state MPs, many local councillors as well as all current and former leaders of the Australian Greens from Bob Brown to Adam Bandt and Mehreen Faruqi; former Labor Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe; and former Liberal Minister for Immigration Ian Macphee. Link to the Statement and full list of signatories.
Commenting on the Statement of Support, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network President Nasser Mashni said, “For 93 days, the Australian Government has offered nothing but feeble calls for ‘restraint’ from the Israeli Government, and for 93 days, the Israeli Government has ignored these calls and committed genocide in Gaza.
“This statement from elected representatives represents steadily mounting political pressure for the government to act with moral integrity and authority and use all tools at its disposal to hold Israel to account for its genocide in Palestine.
“The community will not tolerate anything less than an immediate ceasefire, an end to occupation, apartheid and genocide, and a political resolution that guarantees justice and self-determination to the Palestinian people.
“I am heartened by the groundswell and activation of the community on this issue and feel sure this will translate into real political consequences for elected representatives who have shown themselves unwilling to take a stand against this genocide.”
The statement was drafted by a cross-party group of MPs in the NSW Parliament, and the call for current and former Australian elected representatives to sign on was launched on 6 December 2023 by Jenny Leong MP, Greens Member for Newtown, and Anthony D’Adam, Labor Member of the Legislative Council. Last Sunday on 10 December, International Human Rights Day, Jenny and Anthony marched together at the front of the Sydney rally.
APAN assisted with sending the statement on to elected members of parliament.
Since this time, thousands of individuals have tagged, called and messaged their local, state and federal MPs urging them to sign on – boosting the public pressure on the Australian Government to significantly change policy on Palestine/Israel.
On 12 December 2023 the Australian Government supported the UN General Assembly Resolution, changing from an abstention on the previous resolution.
The Statement by Current and Former Australian Elected Representatives on the Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
As current and former Australian elected representatives from all levels of government, we make the following statement in support of an immediate, permanent ceasefire and a just and lasting peace:
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- All states have an obligation to contribute to upholding international law, including human rights, international humanitarian law and the other universally accepted norms of the international legal system.
- 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.
- These violations began in 1948 with the violent displacement of some 700,000 Palestinian people from their homeland. These people, and hundreds of thousands more displaced since, have all been denied a right of return.
- The occupation by Israel of the West Bank and Gaza, ongoing since 1967, continues to involve military occupation, illegal settlement expansion, land theft, violence, discrimination, restrictions on movement and the subjugation of the Palestinian people. The situation is intolerable and to the shame of the international community.
- While Gaza was cleared of illegal Israeli settlements in 2005, the ongoing blockade clearly constitutes an occupation under applicable international law standards.
- 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. Attempts to deny this, or smear those who allege it, are an attempt to defy truth and reality.
- These events and policies have involved the destruction of Palestinian society and the denial of the legitimate national aspirations of the Palestinian people.
- On 3 March 2021 the International Criminal Court announced it had opened an investigation into Israel and certain Palestinian armed groups. The Chief Prosecutor of the Court has announced it, “encompasses conduct that may amount to Rome Statute crimes committed since 13 June 2014 in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem”.
- We note Australia is a state party to the International Criminal Court and bound by its statute which makes criminal the gravest international crimes.
- The deliberate or reckless killing of innocent civilians is never defensible, whatever the context, and both the horrific acts of Hamas on 7 October and the horrendous scale of the civilian death toll caused by the Israeli military response will properly form part of that investigation.
- We call on the Australian Government to publicly advocate for an immediate permanent ceasefire, to continue to call for the release of all hostages and urge that all parties fully comply with international standards.
- We call on the Australian Government to recognise Palestine as a state that is entitled to be free of occupation.
- We call on the Australian Government to examine its relationship with Israel, with a focus on positively contributing to the resolution of this intolerable and dangerous situation that threatens the people of Israel and Palestine and the entire international community.
- We stand with Palestine, the Palestinian people, including Palestinian Australians and with all others who support truth and justice, including the many Jewish people protesting Israeli violence against Palestinians.
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