Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian Greens today mourn those killed on 7 October 2023, as well as the hundreds of thousands of civilians who have lost their lives in a spiral of violence that started long before 7 October and has gathered pace and continued since. The Greens continue our call for peace. The attacks of 7 October, the killing and traumatising of civilians and the taking of hostages, were appalling. The stories from that day are truly horrific and deserve nothing less than our most full condemnation as a Senate, as a parliament and as a community. These acts rightly moved so many in the Australian community to voice our compassion and our solidarity with all members of the Jewish community and all those impacted. Among those whose lives were taken were older people in their homes, young people enjoying a music festival and children who knew little of the history of the conflict that far predated them. This week is, again, a time to remember those who lost their lives and those who loved them.

There are many who are also now still waiting for news of their loved one's fate nearly a year after being taken hostage by Hamas and in the face of the refusal of the Netanyahu government to reach a ceasefire and to secure their release. The Greens reiterate our call for the unconditional release of hostages, just as we call for the release of the many thousands of Palestinians held as political prisoners in Israeli prisons. We condemn the taking of hostages. We condemn it now; we condemned it a year ago. We call it out for the war crime that it is and that it was. And we will continue to condemn hostage taking as a war crime, unconditionally, until the hostages are released.

The very same compassion, honesty and commitment to peace and justice required of us in the response to these Hamas attacks requires us as Greens to call out the war crimes and the genocide that is being carried out by the State of Israel right now in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories and now reaching and including Lebanon. The extremist Netanyahu government's campaign of genocide in Gaza has claimed over 40,000 lives, and many pieces of credible academic research now put that figure at far, far more. These are human beings blasted away by unimaginable weapons of war. These are entire communities reduced to rubble. This is the displacement of millions of people.

The State of Israel's continued violation of international law in the West Bank has led to the largest and highest levels of forced relocations and illegal settlements in the country's history. This means that thousands of Palestinians have been forced from their homes in the West Bank since October 7. Many hundreds have died, and a just peace has been pushed further out of reach. In Lebanon, the Netanyahu government has unleashed a relentless campaign of bombardment with no regard for civilians. They have turned residential neighbourhoods into war zones and pushed an already unstable nation to the brink of collapse. How have we come to a time when the bombing of children is excused by our government, a time when the calls of UN experts and human rights organisations are ignored, dismissed and derided, a time when governments can't hear the cries of two million Palestinians in Gaza as the State of Israel's military drops bombs from planes using Australian made parts?

The International Court of Justice has made clear that the State of Israel's occupation of Palestine is unlawful and based on apartheid. The occupation underlies the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, and it must end. Australia is not just a bystander in this conflict. By refusing to support the UN resolutions on Palestinian statehood, by refusing to support South Africa's International Court of Justice case, by refusing to engage with the genuine aspirations of the Australian community to see a just peace and to see those individuals responsible for these war crimes, including Netanyahu and his cabinet, face sanctions and be brought to justice before the International Criminal Court, by continuing to import Israeli weapons and continuing to export parts, including parts for the F-35 fighter, that are used by the Israeli military, Australia is complicit in this appalling conflict.

The Labor government must listen to the community and join with the community in pushing for a just peace by recognising the statehood of Palestine, sanctioning the extremist Netanyahu government, ending the two-way arms trade and pushing for a just and lasting peace for Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese. We must never forget that in war it is always civilians who pay the highest price. Peace must always be our goal. It is in that spirit that I foreshadow the amendment standing in my name:

Omit all words after "That", substitute:

"the Senate:

(a) commemorates the victims of 7 October 2023 and reiterates its condemnation of the attacks;

(b) calls for the unconditional release of the hostages and political prisoners;

(c) condemns all forms of racism including anti-semitism and Islamophobia;

(d) condemns the State of Israel's ongoing genocide and war crimes in Gaza that have killed more than 41,000 people and the ongoing illegal actions and bombing in the West Bank, Syria and Lebanon;

(e) notes the International Court of Justice has made clear the State of Israel's occupation of Palestine is unlawful and based on apartheid;

(f) believes the illegal occupation underlies the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East which must come to an end; and

(g) calls on the Government to take meaningful action towards a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians and others in the Middle East by implementing the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteurs and ending the two-way arms trade and placing sanctions on Netanyahu's extremist government".

These are the actions we must take if we are to end the complicity of this government and, at its hand, our nation in these most terrible crimes.