Speech given at the NSW ALP Conference on 27 July 2024 on an amendment to the ‘Australia and the World’ report.
Delegates.
First principles.
Any person ever born matters. Every life lost is a tragedy, a loss of a personal universe.
Those principles certainly matter in the Middle East.
For many of us, the resolution before us is a compromise, with concessions to reach a unified position. But the words are rooted in principles, Labor values.
Labor always stands for freedom, dignity and respect for ALL the peoples of Israel and Palestine.
We did so in 1947 in votes in the UN with our greats Prime Minister Ben Chifley and Doc Evatt. In this very Town Hall in 1948, this NSW Labor Conference, voted in favour of two states for two peoples with secure and recognised borders as mandated by the UN.
What a tragedy that opportunity was missed and all those as were the opportunities that followed, especially in 2000, 2001 and 2007 under Ehud Barak and then Ehud Olmert.
Labor stands for justice.
There cannot be justice and peace if that means the rights of one people comes at the expense of another. Arab Palestinians and Jews expelled from the land long ago have indigenous claims to the land.
Read please the Australia and the World report starting at p. 274 of the blue policy booklet.
We cannot be deluded about Hamas. Their Charter (and actions) calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews is the most antisemitic document since Mein Kampf.
We call for the release of the hostages.
We call for a ceasefire now.
We ask our government to contribute to the peace process and the recognition of Palestine as a priority.
Every life lost is a tragedy.
We understand that criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu and extremists in his Cabinet, including national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, is deserved. I do so with regret, sorrow and burning indignation given their recent statements on peace in the Middle East.
Peace will come from the heart. With Palestinians and Israelis working together. It will not happen overnight. It will happen through co-operation in health, such as in Project Rozana, in ecology, economic development, women’s rights, respect for minorities including LGBT people etc. Good people are creating opportunity and optimism. We must help rebuild Gaza, its infrastructure and its society free of hatred and tyranny.
I am not a pessimist. We cannot afford to be.
This resolution in its entirety is sensible, balanced, principled. The only way forward. Responsible, realistic, and true. In keeping with the proud history and ideals of Labor. Therefore, I support the proposal before us.
Postscript (July 2024)
It is important to note what the conference decided. The box below is the resolution in its entirety.
The Resolution of Conference
Conference supports the ‘Australia and the World’ Report to this conference and in that respect:
– calls on the Australian government to do what it can to accelerate and support the peace process including the recognition of Palestine as a priority.
[The parts of the ‘Australia and the World’ report dealing with the Middle East read:]
The intractable Israel-Gaza conflict is a human tragedy. Innocent civilians on all sides are suffering.
The Committee notes the diverse views put forward in motions from our rank-and-file members: supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples to live in peace and security.
Crafting this report four weeks out from Conference, the Committee does not know what the situation will be when we gather. Given the diversity of views and the fluidity of the situation, the Committee formed the view that it is best to refer motions 32-36 to Conference, noting the National Platform, the NSW Conference resolutions on this issue since 2014, and statements from the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
The 2023 National Platform supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders; calls on the Australian government to recognise Palestine as a state; and expects that this issue will be an important priority for the Australian government. We call on the Australian Government to exercise all avenues of influence, pressure, and diplomacy to work for an immediate and lasting ceasefire, including calling out those regional forces and proxies seeking to foment further conflict.
Likewise, since 2014, the NSW Labor Conference has supported the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist within secure and recognised borders; these policy positions are bedrock principles for NSW Labor.
Since coming to office in May 2022, the Albanese government has adopted the name ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ consistent with the approach taken by key partners and the UN and the broader international community. The government has also reversed the Morrison government’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reaffirming Australia’s longstanding position that Jerusalem is a final status issue.
The Committee expresses its support of the Australian government’s vote at the UN in favour of recognition of Palestine as an independent member state.
The government remains unequivocal in its condemnation of Hamas’ abhorrent terror and missile attacks on 7 October 2023, breaking a ceasefire, and continues to call for the immediate and unequivocal release of hostages. The government is also pressing for an immediate ceasefire, for the protection of civilians and increased humanitarian access.
In addition, the Committee:
Notes Australia’s support of two UN resolutions: on Palestinian membership, which reiterates support for eventual two-state solution, and on maintaining the Palestinians’ observer status including appropriate, additional rights to participate in UN forums.
Urges the Australian government to support NGO peace initiatives — bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, in the fields of health, ecology, economic development, women’s rights, and other fields — and have this combined with much needed humanitarian aid.
Resolutely reaffirms that there is no place in Australia for anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian or anti-Israel racism or any form of hate speech, prejudice, or act of violence.
Notes criticism of the government of Israel — particularly relating to Benjamin Netanyahu’s opposition to a two-state solution and rejection of any moves to establish a Palestinian state — is not anti-Semitic and should not be seen as a fundamental criticism of Israel and its peoples.
In addition, the Committee feels it is important to call out the intentional distortion and manipulation of truth by the Greens political party through their circulation of misleading material falsely claiming Australia has sent weapons or ammunition to Israel since October 7.
Committee notes Australia has not exported weapons or ammunition to Israel for at least five years. The Department of Defence issues export permits for items listed on the Defence and Strategic Goods list, and the supply of a weapon to Israel by Australia would require issuing of an export permit. No weapons have been supplied to Israel for at least five years, and no export permits have been issued for weapons or ammunition during this time. We refer Party members to the clear, unequivocal statement from Minister for Defence Industry, Patrick Conroy: “Any suggestion that we are exporting weapons or ammunition to Israel is false.” We call on the government to continue to ensure Australia does not permit export of weapons, or ammunitions to be used in this conflict where either party to this conflict is the recipient.
As we come together at conference, the Committee lastly wishes to highlight whilst Australia’s ability to contribute to bringing about resolution to this conflict is limited, albeit in being part of an allied push, we do have the benefit of being a democratic society under the rule of law with citizens from all ethnic and religious groups, which are affected by this perennial conflict. Indeed, our Parliament includes members from those ethnic and religious groups. It is our hope, therefore, at Conference by respectfully, and robustly, engaging with each other, to clarify our stand.
Communities and individuals must remain respectful and compassionate in the face of continuing conflict and international tensions. We gain nothing by reproducing international conflicts here in Australia.
Before Conference, in negotiations with interested NSW ALP delegates across factions, including representatives of the Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) and Labor Friends of Israel (LFI) it was agreed that certain red lines would not be crossed. No mention of BDS, genocide, apartheid, immediate recognition of or timetable for recognising Palestine, etc.
I volunteered to speak on that basis and in support of a policy position much better considered than at any recent ALP conference across the country.
Unfortunately, one speaker got carried away and mentioned apartheid and genocide in his speech – words that appeared nowhere in the resolution before Conference.
The Chair of the policy committee, Misha Zelinsky, in speaking at the end of the debate, dryly remarked that he supported the position before Conference even if some of the things said in favour did not appeal to him.
Postscript (October 2024)
In July a limited ceasefire seemed a sensible idea, if that enabled the release of the hostages. It would only be temporary. For Hamas and Islamicists, their idea of a “ceasefire” is that of a hudna (a truce), a tactical pause before regrouping without signalling the desire to end the war.
As the conflict extended to The Lebanon, with Hezbollah’s year-long shelling intensifying as they fired their vast arsenal of rockets into Israel, with up to 80,000 Israelis in the north displaced, the idea of a ceasefire had different implications.
UN resolution # 1701 adopted in 2006 required the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from The Lebanon south of the Litani river, the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, with only UNIFIL and Lebanese military forces anywhere near the Israeli border. But over the past 18 years this was not honoured by Hezbollah. Defanging them became an urgent necessity, especially with evidence of increasingly active Iranian involvement in Hezbollah decision-making.
A ceasefire could only be possible after crippling or at least curtailing Hezbollah’s lethal capacities.
The death of Sinwar (Hamas’ leader) and Nasrallah (Hezbollah’s leader) gives renewed hope that the awful carnage can end.
