Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A lot of people in this place and elsewhere know that I have been a long-time supporter of the Palestinian people. Some years ago, I spent eight days on the West Bank. One of my former mayors is 'Al' Karanouh from Coonamble. His family left their homes in the Nakba in 1948, and his siblings were scattered across the globe from a refugee camp in Lebanon, so, through Al, I've had a bit of an insight into what's going on. Unfortunately, Hamas's attack in October of last year has made it incredibly difficult to see a solution for that part of the world.

One of the reasons that I have been a co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine is I desperately didn't want this to become a political division in this country. Sadly, I've completely failed in that attempt. What I call the protest classes—the extremists—who might think they're helping the Palestinian people are also doing enormous harm, because it's an excuse not to worry about the deaths of nearly 30,000 people if the people who are speaking up for them and the ones who get the attention don't have the credibility with the broader community.

All I ask is that we don't take sides, that we look at a resolution for that area and that we understand that a child who has been killed by stray bullets, a child who is suffering from malnutrition and illness, is an innocent person regardless of whether they're Israeli or Palestinian. We must not forget our humanity and become a cheer squad for one side or the other in this country. We are not doing the people of the Middle East any favours. We need to have a measured approach. We need a ceasefire so that this can be sorted through.

This is one of the most frustrating times in my 16 years in this place. I know it's a long way away but, when you've been there and you've seen through your own eyes the conditions on the ground in that part of the world, you have a responsibility as a human being and as a member of parliament to try to do what you can to make a difference. I know I'm outnumbered on this issue, but I'm just asking people to think of the humanity rather than just taking sides.