Showing posts with label War on Gaza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War on Gaza. Show all posts

Saturday, 26 July 2025

The Question of Palestine, international law, crimes against humanity, the international response and the Commonwealth of Australia

 



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Joint statement on the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Media release

21 July 2025


We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now.


The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government's denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.


The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release. A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.


We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively.


We call on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law. Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a "humanitarian city" are completely unacceptable. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.


We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel's Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a Palestinian state in two, marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution. Meanwhile, settlement building across the West Bank including East Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.


We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.


We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.


This statement has been signed by:


  • The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK

  • The EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management


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Prime Minister of Australia Hon Anthony Albanese


Statement on the situation in Gaza

Media statement

Friday 25 July 2025


The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.


The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters.


Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.


This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.


Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.


Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.


We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.


This includes allowing the United Nations and NGOs to carry out their lifesaving work safely and without hindrance.


Any proposals for the permanent forced displacement of the Palestinian population must be abandoned.


Australia condemns the terror and brutality of Hamas and we reiterate our call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages.


We continue to support all international efforts to facilitate a ceasefire, recognising that an immediate and permanent ceasefire gives the best hope of bringing hostages home and easing the agony of their loved ones.


Australia is proud to have strongly supported the creation of the modern state of Israel.


Then, as now, the global community envisioned two states: the State of Israel and the State of Palestine.


Recognising the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own has long been a bipartisan position in Australia.


The reason a two state solution remains the goal of the international community is because a just and lasting peace depends upon it.


Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within secure and internationally-recognised borders.


Until that day, every effort must be made here and now to safeguard innocent life and end the suffering and starvation of the people of Gaza.

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Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder on the unconscionable deaths of children by starvation in the Gaza Strip

24 July 2025




On 5 June 2025, Mariam, 2 years old, lies on a bed at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. Mariam suffers from acute malnutrition. She weighs just 5 kilograms, whereas the average weight for a two-year-old should be around 11 kilograms. Her mother explains that Mariam was in good health when she was born, but she began losing weight a few months ago. Now, she is often too weak to eat and is visibly exhausted. She urgently needs nutritional support and appropriate medical treatment.


AMMAN, 24 July 2025 – “Children in the Gaza Strip are starving to death.


“Severe malnutrition is spreading among children faster than aid can reach them, and the world is watching it happen. Since April this year, the reported number of children who have died from malnutrition has jumped from 52 to 80 - a staggering 54 per cent increase in less than three months, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. In just 48 hours, at least four more children reportedly died of starvation. In total, more than 100 people have died from malnutrition during this war, and 80 per cent of them are children.


“These deaths are unconscionable - and could have been prevented. The UN-led humanitarian response must be allowed to function fully through unfettered aid access to children in need.


"Without that, we will see a further rise in acute malnutrition. In June, the number of children admitted for treatment for malnutrition reached the highest levels since the conflict began, with 6,500 children admitted. July is already tracking higher, with 5,000 children admitted in only two weeks. In Gaza City alone, out of the children screened, the percentage of those detected with acute malnutrition has risen four times from what it was in February.


“UNICEF and partners remain in the Gaza Strip screening and treating children for malnutrition, but to be able to reverse the catastrophic situation we face, a sustained and predictable flow of humanitarian and commercial supplies is urgently needed. Fuel must enter in sufficient quantities that allow life-saving services to function. Children must be protected - not killed, and not left to starve.


“We need a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. And we need it now.”

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UNRWA Commissioner-General on Gaza: A constructed and deliberate mass starvation

25 July 2025

From Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General as posted on his official X account (previously known as Twitter)


#Gaza : A constructed and deliberate mass starvation. Today, more children died, their bodies emaciated by hunger.

The flawed distribution system (GHF) is not designed to address the humanitarian crisis.

It’s serving military and political objectives. It’s cruel as it takes more lives than it saves lives.

Israel controls all aspects of humanitarian access, whether outside or within #Gaza.

Airdrops are the most expensive and inefficient way to deliver aid. It is a distraction to the inaction.

When bureaucratic and political hurdles are lifted, the humanitarian community has demonstrated it can deliver assistance at scale, in a dignified way, without diversion.

During the ceasefire fire in earlier this year, we succeeded to reverse the deepening hunger.

Today, @UNRWA alone has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks of food and medical assistance stuck in Egypt and Jordan.

The unfolding famine can only be reversed by a political will.

Make "never again" a reality.

If we fail the Palestinians in Gaza, others are likely to be failed too in the future.

Let's not set a dangerous and irreversible precedent.


Background Information:

UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency’s area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.


UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.


Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.


UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.


Your support is crucial to help us provide emergency aid to displaced families in Gaza


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End unfolding genocide or watch it end life in Gaza: UN experts say States face defining choice


7 May 2025



GENEVA – Escalating atrocities in Gaza present an urgent moral crossroads and States must act now to end the violence or bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza – an outcome with irreversible consequences for our shared humanity and multilateral order, UN experts warned today, demanding immediate international intervention.


“While States debate terminology - is it or is it not genocide? - Israel continues its relentless destruction of life in Gaza, through attacks by land, air and sea, displacing and massacring the surviving population with impunity,” the experts said.


“No one is spared - not the children, persons with disabilities, nursing mothers, journalists, health professionals, aid workers, or hostages. Since breaking the ceasefire, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians, many daily - peaking on 18 March 2025 with 600 casualties in 24 hours, 400 of whom were children.”


“This is one of the most ostentatious and merciless manifestations of the desecration of human life and dignity,” the experts said.


The aggression has transformed Gaza into a landscape of desolation, where nearly half of the casualties are children and thousands remain displaced. The group of experts cited over 52,535 deaths, of which 70 percent continue to be women and children, and 118,491 injuries as of 4 May 2025.


Since March 2025, coinciding with the end of the ceasefire, Israel has reinstated an even harsher blockade on Gaza, effectively trapping its population in misery, hunger, and disease. “Under constant bombardment, amid homes reduced to rubble, streets turned into zones of terror and a devastated environment, 2.1 million survivors are facing the direst humanitarian crisis,” the experts said. “Food and water have been cut off for months, inducing starvation, dehydration, and disease, which will result in more deaths becoming the daily reality for many, especially the most vulnerable.”


Amid this carnage, Israeli statements that fluctuate between outright blocking of aid and conditional releases incumbent on other strategic goals, showcase a clear intent to wield starvation as a weapon of war, and uncertainty in the population for a basic need, increasing the risk for trauma and mental health injuries, they warned.


“Not only is delivering humanitarian aid one of Israel’s most critical obligations as the occupying power, but its deliberate depletion of essential necessities, destroying of natural resources and calculated push to drive Gaza to the brink of collapse further corroborates its criminal responsibility,” the experts said.


“These acts, beyond constituting grave international crimes, follow alarming, documented patterns of genocidal conduct.”


The experts called on states to transcend rhetoric and take enforceable action to immediately end the carnage and ensure accountability for perpetrators.


“The world is watching. Will Member States live up to their obligations and intervene to stop the slaughter, hunger, and disease, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity that are perpetrated daily in complete impunity?”


International norms were established precisely to prevent such horrors. Yet, as millions protest globally for justice and humanity, their cries are muted. This situation conveys a deadly message: Palestinian lives are dispensable, and international law, if unenforced, is meaningless,” the experts said.


They recalled that the Palestinian right to self-determination is irrevocable. “States must act swiftly to end the unfolding genocide, dismantle apartheid, and secure a future in which Palestinians and Israelis coexist in freedom and dignity.


“Arrest warrants from the ICC against Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity require immediate action and compliance. The ICJ Advisory Opinion mandates an end to the prolonged occupation, and the deadline the General Assembly has set is 17 September 2025,” the experts said.


Continuing to support Israel materially or politically, especially via arms transfers, and the provision of private military and security services risks complicity in genocide and other serious international crimes, they warned.


“The decision is stark: remain passive and witness the slaughter of innocents or take part in crafting a just resolution. The global conscience has awakened, if asserted - despite the moral abyss we are descending into - justice will ultimately prevail,” they said.


*The experts: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment ; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Ashwini K.P. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Graeme Reid, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders: Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito (Chair-Rapporteur), Ravindran Daniel, Michelle Small, Joana de Deus Pereira, Andrés Macías Tolosa, Working Group on the use of mercenaries; and Geneviève Savigny (Chair-Rapporteur), Carlos Duarte, Uche Ewelukwa, Shalmali Guttal, Davit Hakobyan, Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas and Bina D’Costa (Chair), Barbara G. Reynolds, Isabelle Mamadou, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls.


Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.


Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/


For more information please contact: hrc-sr-opt@un.org


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Friday, 7 February 2025

By the end of the fourth day in Lattouf v ABC Australia it was hard not to feel that the ABC board & management had brought the 92 year-old grande dame of public broadcasting into disrepute

 


This media release became public shortly after the end of the fourth court sitting day in NSD189/2024: Antoinette Lattouf v Australian Broadcasting Corporation.







ABC staff ‘disgusted’ by handling of Lattouf case


2025-02-06 16:38:00 #MEAAMedia #WithMEAA MediaRoom Releases


The ABC must commission an independent inquiry into the broadcaster’s independence from outside interference and apologise for allowing external pressure to influence the dismissal of Antoinette Lattouf and attempts to have other journalists sacked in recent years.


Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance members at the ABC want the inquiry to be conducted within 12 months and the full report released publicly.


Following a union meeting today, they are also demanding complete end to the “special hotlines” that some groups are able to leverage to influence the ABC and improved transparency about complaints and lobbying activities directed at the Chair and managing director.


“Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance members at the ABC are dismayed by the revelations emerging from the Antoinette Lattouf trial and disgusted by the ABC’s handling of the case,” said the ABC National House Committee.


“The ABC’s position that Ms Lattouf has not “demonstrated the existence of a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern race” destroys any hope that the ABC intends to address the systemic racism identified by the Janke review of last year.


“As a public broadcaster, the ABC must act as a model litigant. We demand it immediately disavows this position and acknowledges, without qualification, that Lebanese, Arab and Middle Eastern people can be subject to racial discrimination.


“The trial has confirmed our worst fears: the ABC’s independence is not adequately protected. Across successive leaderships, political pressure has influenced the ABC chair, leading to breaches of our independence. There has been no commitment to change from the new leadership.


“It’s therefore not enough to change the personnel. The system allowing those breaches needs to be changed.


“ABC staff work tirelessly to build and maintain the ABC’s independence and integrity. It is the board’s legal duty to protect that independence and integrity. But time and again we see ABC chairs and managing directors do the opposite.


“ABC’s staff know social media rules are supposed to ensure the ABC isn’t brought into disrepute, yet this court proceeding has badly harmed the ABC’s reputation.


“This must stop. We demand changes be made to ensure it does.


Resolution


ABC MEAA members demand:


1. An explicit acceptance by the ABC that they will not require any proof that it is possible to be racist to a Lebanese/Arab/ Middle Eastern person and an apology for making that argument in court.


2. An independent inquiry, designed in collaboration with the ABC MEAA National House Committee, to examine the ABC’s independence and how outside pressure may have inappropriately influenced the ABC, including the attempts to sack Emma Alberici and Andrew Probyn, revealed in 2018, and the sacking of Antoinette Lattouf. Since these cases appear to demonstrate inappropriate outside influence despite personnel changes across successive leadership teams, the inquiry should consider potential legislative, corporate culture or policy changes that might be required, as well as changing or clarifying the roles of the Chair and managing director, to better protect the ABC’s integrity and independence. The inquiry should be conducted within 12 months and a full report be released publicly.


3. A full apology to Antoinette Lattouf, ABC staff and the public for allowing external pressure to influence the ABC, undermining the ABC’s independence and hard-won trust.


4. An acknowledgement from Chair Kim Williams that what occurred before his time with the sacking of Lattouf was unacceptable and a commitment to stop it happening again.


5. A complete end to the “special hotlines” that some groups are able to leverage to influence the ABC. All complaints received by senior executives, the MD or the board must be directed to the ombudsman or appropriate adjudicator with no further action. The ABC should follow its established and rigorous complaints handling process through the Ombudsman’s Office without interference or influence from management. Editorial staff subject to complaints must always be afforded the right to respond before any adverse findings or actions are taken against them.


6. Improved transparency around attempts to influence including the Managing Director and Chair publishing their diaries and summaries of all complaints and lobbying actions received by them.


7. That the incoming MD Hugh Marks meets with the MEAA National House Committee to openly and collaboratively discuss how to ensure these longstanding problems are not repeated.


8. That the ABC does not unduly fold to bad faith external media campaigns.


9. ABC Management will immediately work with ABC MEAA House Committee to review and implement social media policy with transparency.


10. Call on the ABC management to treat staff’s mental health disclosures with respect in all circumstances, and recognise the mental health toll of working in the media industry.


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Saturday, 9 November 2024

Cartoons of the Week



Cathy Wilcox



Pat Hudson


David Rowe




















































First Dog On The Moon

 


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Tuesday, 20 August 2024

While I was away..... *WARNING: Contains Graphic Image*

 

A brief look at some items of note during the last ten days.

 

 

 

 

On 14 August 2024 the State of Israel's War on Gaza entered its 313th day and, the Palestinian population has suffered more war deaths than the Australian people did during the approx. 2,107 days of the last world war.


A sad comparison


In World War Two 34,000 Australian service personnel were killed along /w 700-1,000 civilians [ABS 1998, Parramatta History and Heritage 2020, Statistica 2024]. These numbers are estimated to be 5% of Australia's total population as of 30 June 1939. 


In the War on Gaza from 7 Oct 2023 up to 14 Aug 2024 a total of 39,965 Palestinians are recorded as killed [UN OCHR August 2024] with est. 11,000 of those killed being children.

NOTE: These UN numbers do not include the thousands missing presumed dead or the as yet unidentified dead stored within the Gaza Strip.

However, the numbers do represent an estimated 2.0% of the Palestinian population residing in the Gaza Strip on 1 September 2023.


As of 20 August 2024 there is no negotiated ceasefire or any timetable for a declaration that the War on Gaza has ended.


Jewish Council Australia, media release, 14 August 2024:


Jewish Council condemns Peter Dutton and Dave Sharma for stoking racism in comments on Palestinians fleeing genocide


August 14, 2024


Today, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told Sky News that no Palestinians from Gaza should be entering Australia and that a visa scheme for Palestinians fleeing Gaza would put Australia’s national security at risk.


These comments were made days after Liberal Party Senator Dave Sharma criticised the government, suggesting that Palestinians entering Australia “might endanger” Australian citizens and “our own democracy.”


These comments cannot be taken in isolation. Only two weeks ago, neo-Nazis held a Trump inspired anti-immigration rally outside Federation Square in Melbourne calling for the mass deportation of immigrants. Rather than clearly distancing themselves from dangerous anti-immigrant sentiment, Peter Dutton and Dave Sharma are only fuelling division.


The Jewish Council rejects any assertion that Palestinians fleeing violence are a threat to the safety of Australians.


Palestinians in Gaza face extreme levels of violence. On Saturday morning, an Israeli attack at the Al-Tabeen School in Gaza City killed at least 100 people, making it one of the deadliest attacks in Israel’s 10 month assault on Gaza. The intensity of the bombing was such that many victims were dismembered beyond recognition. Doctors resorted to collecting body parts in plastic bags, giving families 70 kilos of remains when their loved ones could not be individually identified.


The horrific reality of violence faced by Palestinians in Gaza underlines the need for Australians to do all we can to support and welcome Gazans seeking to enter Australia.


Dr Max Kaiser, historian and Executive Officer


“The rhetoric directed against Palestinian refugees is reminiscent of the same rhetoric used to vilify Jewish refugees in the 1940s and 1950s who were frequently labeled ‘security risks’. This rhetoric is also part of a long history of racism and exclusion in Australia, from the White Australia Policy to panics about ‘boat people’.”


Sarah Schwartz, human rights lawyer and Executive Officer


“Peter Dutton and Dave Sharma should be ashamed of themselves for using anti-immigrant rhetoric to stoke fear and division. It is only weeks since anti-immigrant riots took place in the UK, and neo-Nazis held an anti-immigration rally in Melbourne’s CBD. Politicians should be distancing themselves from all forms of racism and xenophobia not fuelling division.


“The Australian Government should not be influenced by the Israel lobby’s false and racist depictions of Palestinians. Many Jewish people have family histories of fleeing persecution and understand the importance of Australia meeting its obligations under International Law to protect the human rights of refugees.”


Historical background


Rhetoric directed against Palestinian refugees is reminiscent of the same rhetoric used to vilify Jewish refugees in the 1940s and 1950s who were frequently labeled ‘security risks’. T.H. White, Australia’s delegate to the 1938 Evian Conference famously said with reference to German and Austrian Jewish refugees, Australia has "no real racial problem [and is] not desirous of importing one". This rhetoric is also part of a long history of racism and exclusion in Australia, from the White Australia Policy to the War on Terror’s exclusion of people from the Middle East.


Statements by Leader of the Opposition & LNP MP for Dickson, Peter Dutton:


The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 August 2024:


....Dutton on Wednesday decided to push beyond the Coalition’s previous demands for tougher scrutiny of Palestinian refugees, saying: “I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment. It’s not prudent to do so and I think it puts our national security at risk.”


9 News, 15 August 2024:


"So (the government) said that they will bring people into Australia who are sympathisers with a listed terrorist organisation," Dutton said.

"Could you imagine if we were proposing to bring people in who were sympathetic to another listed terrorist organisation, like al-Qaeda or ISIL or ISIS? It's completely unacceptable.

"You bring 3000 people in, let's say 99 per cent are good.

"If one per cent, 30 people, are questionable or sympathisers with a listed terrorist organisation, how on earth is that in our country's best interests?"


ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess has previously said that "rhetorical" sympathy for Hamas would not be considered an automatic bar to entry.


Note: Using statistics drawn out of thin air to create hypothetical risk scenarios produces nothing but 'word salad' - especially as the number of Palestinian refugees who have entered Australia since October 2023 is far less than the 3,000 mentioned. A wider lens is required. As an example, between 2014 & 2020, a total of 3,360,650 people entered Australia on migrant visas [ABS, 2021]. If the total number of individuals actually charged with terrorism related offenses within this period had been in that 6 year migrant intake, it would still only have represented an estimated percentage point of 0.003273176320057132% of this statistical cohort.

 

A cartoonist's perspective


Matt Golding


An exchange in the Australian Parliament


House of Representatives, Hansard, 15 August 2024, excerpt:


Ms STEGGALL (Warringah) (09:16): It's extremely concerning to see the opposition turn up today with this suspension of standing orders and the words and the rhetoric that we're hearing here. It goes directly against the advice of ASIO and the concern around the polarisation in our communities—that whipping up of a sense of fear and that inference that, for example, our services and systems are not working. What I'd like to share is the human story, the real story, about some of the people we're talking about and the lives we're talking about.

Mr Conaghan interjecting—

Ms STEGGALL: And I would ask you to be silent! I have the floor!

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cowper will cease interjecting. The member for Warringah will be heard, just as other members were heard, in silence.

Ms STEGGALL: In 2020, I met a man called Mohammed at the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club. He had come to Australia under a visa approved by the Morrison government under the same systems. He came to participate in a surf lifesaving skills program. He wanted to give the children of Gaza an opportunity to learn water safety, to not drown, to have something positive on weekends. They loved that program. They attended.

Unfortunately, after the horrendous events of October, that program, of course, ended. The bombing started. Many people that participated in that program have died. Many of the children have died. These are normal families. These are families that you are seeking to paint as all being terrorists, who should all be mistrusted and who are not worthy of humanitarian aid.

Mr Dutton: Complete rubbish! Stop repeating the governments lines.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.

Ms STEGGALL: We heard you in silence; you can hear me in silence. Stop being racist.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is seeking the call.

Mr Dutton: That was an offensive and unparliamentary remark and it should be withdrawn.

The SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much noise. As I previously asked for the chamber to be silent, I'm just going to ask the member for Warringah, if she made an unparliamentary remark, to withdraw it to assist the House.

Ms STEGGALL: Could I have a clarification: is a description of language as being racist an unparliamentary remark?

Mr Katter interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Kennedy will resume his seat. Just to assist the House so the debate can keep going, as has been previously ruled, I will just ask the member to withdraw and continue. [my yellow highlighting]


The War on Gaza continues


ABC News, 16 August 2024:


The death toll in Gaza from Israel's offensive has surpassed 40,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

It says a total of 40,005 people have been killed and 92,401 injured since October 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel....


The Leader of the Opposition & LNP MP for Dickson continues


The Daily Telegraph, 17 August 2024:


The Nazis tried to conceal their crime of murdering six million Jews. Hamas felt no guilt when they carried out their terrorist attack on October 7. They invaded Israel with body cams and phones to film their butchery of 1200 people – the greatest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust.


The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 2024:


“The advice that I have is that, out of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 are from second- and third-generation Lebanese Muslim backgrounds,” he said in November 2016.

The comments were widely condemned at the time and last year, in an episode of the ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet, journalist Annabel Crabb put to Dutton that they were racist.

“They’re comments that I shouldn’t have made,” he replied. “I have apologised for that.”

But five leaders of Australia’s Lebanese Muslim community now say they have no recollection of Dutton ever making that apology.

The opposition leader’s office did not respond to multiple enquiries from this masthead about when, how and to whom he said sorry.

[my yellow highlighting]


The pushback by members of the Jewish community in Australia continues




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