At the [recent] NSW Labor Conference I spoke in opposition to a motion moved by Bob Carr concerning the Israel-Palestinian Peace Process. The motion lacked balance, was loosely and inappropriately worded, and seemed to equate Israel with Hamas.
A true friend of Israel is a friend of Palestine. Everyone participating at the national ALP Conference this weekend believes that. So why not recognise Palestine now?
Like many supporters of Israel across the Australian community, I am stunned by the erosion of sympathy and advocacy within the Labor Party in defence of the only democratic nation in the Middle East.
On current trends, the Greens have a chance of winning the Federal seat of Melbourne and perhaps even the seat of Sydney at the election.
The odds were stacked against the inaugural Australia Israel Leadership Forum, an AICE initiative that took place in Jerusalem in June.
Just as the ALP leadership is moving to mend fences with traditional supporters in the Jewish community, one of the people who originally caused the rift has poured more oil on the fire.
The visit of Dr Hanan Ashrawi was disastrous for supporters of Israel. Distressingly, this was mainly due to ‘friendly fire’ rather than strikes by opponents.
The violence in Israel does not do the long suffering Palestinian or Israeli peoples any good. What’s behind this mess? It is now clear that this Intifada was planned in advance.