Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to condemn the brutal Hamas attack on innocent Israeli civilians 10 days ago. Like most Australians I hope and pray for peace in the Middle East, and it is not for me to say what ground needs to be given by up which party to obtain the peace we all desire in this region. That is a matter for them in their negotiations. Longman does not have a large Jewish community or a synagogue, but we do have a large Christian community, and there is definitely a shared spiritual connection and a fondness and respect for Israel. The loss of life in any conflict is of course horrific, whether that be militarily or civilian. We all understand and cherish the value of human life. However, we must also understand that in conflict, regrettably, there will be military lives lost as part of the process of war. These brave souls put their lives on the line for their country or the ideologies they so passionately believe in, mostly by choice. They do this for the rest of their community, citizens and the rest of us here in Australia. For that I will be eternally grateful.

It is indeed strange that there are 'rules of war'. One would expect, when it comes to a matter of life and death, that the gloves would be off and the concept of 'anything goes' would be enacted, but, in the main, it's not so. Generally targets are military and armed forces try to ensure no civilians are killed or injured in any attacks made on their enemies. This is why the recent attack of the terrorist organisation Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians must be condemned. When I saw the images and read the reports I was sick to my stomach—babies beheaded and burned, women raped and innocent unarmed young people, simply having a good time at a music festival, gunned down in what can only be described as brutal and cowardly actions. To date, the loss of life stands at over 1,400 souls.

To add to the disgust of many Australians, it was the actions and reactions of some groups in Australia that also outraged me and those Australians. We have Jewish Australians afraid to leave their homes and Jewish children not wearing uniforms that identify, in any way, their Jewish heritage. We have rallies of antisemitic groups and people in our capital cities celebrating the disgusting attack on these innocent Israelis and chants of, 'Gas the Jews' resounding in some of our communities. These protests and rallies had not been approved or sanctioned by governments and yet they still proceeded without arrests or being shut down. What message does this send to the international community on where Australia stands on this sort of disgraceful behaviour? This antisemitic behaviour is simply unAustralian. Australians should be, and are, appalled at and ashamed of the lack of action in closing them down.

But one of the most unbelievable acts in this process has been the lack of sensitivity and compassion by people and groups here in our own country. Even some of my fellow parliamentarians, mostly from the Greens party, have chosen, at a time when many in the community are mourning and distressed over these senseless, barbaric attacks, to actually speak out against Israel, going so far as to use words like 'genocide'. People in my electorate are contacting my office in anger and disgust, and rightly so. Australia has always been proud of the fact that we have freedom of speech. However, this type of insensitive and hurtful—some would even say hate—speech has never been the Australian way. Those who have spoken and acted in this manner should be ashamed and apologise. Anyone who celebrates the pain and suffering inflicted by this type of barbaric behaviour does not represent the feelings of mainstream Australia and should be condemned.

I say to the Israeli nation, which has long been a friend of Australia, and the Jewish community in Australia that I support you and I condemn those murderous and cowardly attacks on your people and these racist protests, rallies and spiteful, insensitive words spoken here on Australian soil.

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