The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network welcomes the decision from the Australian Government, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, to reverse the previous government’s flawed political stunt in recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“The decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel should never have happened in the first place,” APAN Vice-President, Nasser Mashni said.
“It completely undermined efforts for Palestinian self-determination, and showed the previous government wasn’t interested in a peaceful resolution.
“Israel is still committing the crime of apartheid, and we don’t want any Australian institution rewarding these crimes against humanity.
“This move is a fundamental change in direction from our new government, and is consistent with our polling which shows Australians overwhelmingly support self-determination for the Palestinians – across the political divide.
“The poll also showed an overwhelming number of Australians support the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine, and we trust that our new Government will follow through on its pre-election promise to recognise the State of Palestine.”
At its 2021 National Conference, recognition for Palestine was endorsed into the ALP national platform. The amendment was moved by Senator Penny Wong, which called for Palestinian statehood to “be an important priority” for Labor if it won the next election.
As of April this year, 138 of the 193 UN members recognise Palestine.
Mr Mashni continued, saying that “this reversal brings Australia back into the international consensus – Australia must not pre-empt the final status of Jerusalem,”
“Israel asserts that the entire city is exclusively theirs, denying Palestinian connection to their ancient spiritual, cultural and economic capital.
“For fifty years, the international community was united in rejecting Israel’s unilateral claim – until former President Trump and then our own former Prime Minster.
“The UN Security Council as well as the International Court of Justice have recognised that the annexation is illegal.
“We thank the current Australian Government for differentiating itself from the dangerous political posturing of the previous Government.”
For more information and interviews, contact:
Jarred – [email protected] – 0434 869 088
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