Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week I met with Nell Potter and Andrew Telfer from the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network, both of whom had been deployed to Palestine and Israel. The network predominantly consists of Australian Christians from numerous denominations and is committed to freedom, justice and peace for the people of Palestine and Israel.

Nell and Andrew noted that between September 1993, when the Oslo agreement was signed, and December 2022, Israel demolished 2,787 structures in East Jerusalem and displaced 5,093 persons. Forty-four per cent of demolitions happened in the last five years, and over the last 12 months violence against Palestinians has skyrocketed. The network's report stated that today Palestinian indigenous residents of the Jordan Valley are the subject of violence and exploitation by settlers and Israeli forces with the intention to take over more land. According to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, settler violence against Palestinians is 'a form of government policy, aided and abetted by official state authorities with their active participation'. Understandably, these actions provoke retaliation and jeopardise peace negotiations.

Global voices supporting Palestinian statehood and injustice are growing louder while excuses for the continuing oppression of the Palestinian people are rapidly losing credibility.

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