The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has condemned reports that Australia declined to join the United Kingdom and other like-minded countries in imposing further sanctions targeting Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank.
The ABC reports that Australia’s decision was influenced by domestic political considerations. If accurate, this represents a complete abdication of Australia’s responsibility to uphold the rules-based international order it claims to champion.
Israel’s settlements are not a matter of legitimate diplomatic disagreement. They are illegal under international law, and the United Nations Security Council has repeatedly condemned them.
APAN President Nasser Mashni said:
“The International Court of Justice has been explicit: Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful. The Court found that Israel’s occupation itself, not merely individual acts committed within it, is illegal and must be brought to an end as rapidly as possible.
“Australia’s recognition of Palestine rings hollow if it is not matched by a willingness to act against the very settlement enterprise making a viable Palestinian state impossible.
“Effective foreign policy requires more than words. Words without action are an affront to Palestinian suffering, diminish Australia’s international standing and tell the many Australians demanding a stronger defence of human rights that their voices do not matter.
“This refusal to act internationally comes as the Albanese Government joins the Coalition at home to shut down a Senate inquiry into the Red Lines legislation, preventing scrutiny of Australia’s complicity in Israel’s violations of international law.”
“Australia’s Jewish community is diverse, and many Jewish Australians are among the most vocal and courageous advocates for Palestinian human rights. If the government is withholding action because it fears a domestic political backlash, it is implicitly treating Jewish Australians as a monolith that speaks for the State of Israel.”
‘That conflation is a profound disservice to Jewish Australians, to the honest democratic debate Australia deserves and to the crucial distinction that protects Jewish communities from being held responsible for the actions of a foreign government.”
“History will remember not what Australia recognised, but what Australia was prepared to do.”
APAN’s position is unambiguous: criticism of Israel and the policies of the Israeli government is not, and must never be, conflated with antisemitism.
APAN condemns antisemitism without reservation, just as it condemns every form of racism, including anti Palestinian racism.
APAN asks the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister: what more must happen before Australia acts? How many more illegal settlements, demolished homes and forcibly displaced Palestinian families will it take? Will Australia act before Palestine disappears, or only after?
Australia has long sought the diplomatic cover of acting alongside like-minded nations. Yet when other countries are finally prepared to act against Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, Australia has chosen to stand apart.
APAN calls on the Australian Government to immediately join the United Kingdom and other nations in imposing further sanctions targeting Israel’s illegal settlements and those responsible for sustaining them.
History will remember not what Australia recognised, but what Australia was prepared to do in the face of a genocide
ENDS