Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are in the midst of a political storm—and, more importantly, a moral storm—that is impacting our social and community cohesion. The cohesion of our multicultural society is one of our nation's greatest assets, and everyone needs to play their part in protecting it. We know that people in our communities are hurting and anxious, and it is up to every person in this place to provide calm, responsible and unifying leadership, to de-escalate tensions and not to inflame them.

I completely understand that people, regardless of their religious, ethnic, cultural or political background, are in pain and are experiencing trauma over what is happening in Gaza and Israel. I am deeply upset and concerned myself, but I will always support the right of every Australian to protest peacefully and understand many Australians wish to express their views about what is happening in Israel and Gaza.

But, in doing so, we categorically condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia or dehumanisation of any kind. For decades throughout my work as an MP and in past roles at SBS and as the Victorian Multicultural Commissioner, I have committed everything I have to protecting and supporting our multicultural society and have condemned discriminatory behaviour, hate speech and incitement of violence based on religion and ethnicity. Those behaviours are not the same as Australians' right to peacefully protest. Right now, it is more critical than ever that we maintain social cohesion and respect for one another to safeguard what we all value so much—our multicultural and pluralistic society.

We must ensure the protection of schoolchildren, teachers, places of worship and all Australians as they go about their lives. Threats or acts of violence against innocent people should never be tolerated or justified. The government is continuing to work with communities affected to keep all Australians safe, to provide support and funding for Australian Muslim, Palestinian and Jewish organisations and to support students in Jewish and Islamic schools.

On the other end are a lot of people who are dealing with this. The member for Goldstein rightly pointed out how many of our staff have faced threats. Regardless of their political affiliation, those staff work hard for our local communities on a huge range of dishes. They support families and communities affected by the humanitarian crisis, and they work every day to ensure community cohesion. That is how important they are.

So, in the hopes of safeguarding the diverse and multicultural society we have built, I call on all sides of politics and all parties to avoid using what is happening for domestic political gain. I call on all sides of politics not to stoke the pain and trauma being experienced by Australians in response to this crisis but instead to work to bring people together and to safeguard our communities, just like this MPI says.

As the member for Wills, one of my priorities is to keep my community safe and secure and to maintain social cohesion. As a member of the Australian government and as chair of the intelligence committee, I work to safeguard Australia's national interests, our national security and Australia's social cohesion. As an Australian of Egyptian heritage, I have a personal understanding and deep connection to the region. It has been tragic and deeply sad for decades. We have our history of supporting Palestinian self-determination and statehood. I also empathise with the families of the Israeli civilians who were killed because the same types of extremists attacked the Coptic community in Egypt which I'm from, deliberately targeting and killing innocent civilians. That is why, in condemning Hamas, I made the important point that the legitimate cause of Palestinian self-determination and statehood does not and can never legitimise Hamas's action. Likewise, Israel's military operation's response against Hamas must distinguish Hamas from innocent civilians, because the loss of innocent Palestinian lives is unacceptable and the protection of innocent lives is paramount.

While most people understand that we may not be able to end the cycle of violence that has gone on for decades in the Middle East, I can and have spoken up for Palestinian and Israeli lives. I refuse to engage in the polarisation and hatred of 'the other' to stoke anger on either side. There is already far too much hatred. I refuse to take the path of engaging in selective empathy or to dehumanise any people, whether they are Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, Jewish, Christian or atheist. I won't engage in the polarised hate speech that seeks to dehumanise. Nor can we allow that to be facilitated or encouraged.

Rather, my focus is on calling out the devastating loss of life, ending conflict and suffering, and focusing on reaching out to my community in the mosques and Muslim schools in my electorate to protect them against Islamophobia. At this time, it is more critical than ever that we maintain social cohesion and respect for one another to safeguard this multicultural society that we love. In conclusion, we cannot be indifferent to human suffering, wherever it occurs, and we must recognise and always embrace our shared humanity.

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