Amidst the warmongering of the major parties, the Greens stand for peace and justice

The Greens reject and condemn all forms of violence, especially against civilians. There must be an immediate ceasefire between the State of Israel and Hamas. The context of this escalating conflict cannot be ignored. For there to be peace there must be an end to the State of Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories. Following a ceasefire, there must be a redoubling of efforts to end the occupation and establish a just and lasting peace.

October 11, 2023

In Parliament, Abigail gave notice of the following motion in response to the major parties both failing to recognise the context of the escalating conflict in Israel and Gaza.

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House:

(a) expresses its profound sadness for the lives lost in the most recent escalation of conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the lives lost over the last several decades as a result of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land,

(b) acknowledges that the context of this escalating conflict cannot be ignored and for there to be peace there must be an end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories by the State of Israel,

(c) condemns all forms of violence, especially against civilians, and acknowledges that the right to resist occupation must be in accordance with international law and the premeditated targeting of civilians by Hamas, as well as the bombing of Palestinian civilians in response by the State of Israel, violates these laws, and

(d) calls on the Australian Government to work towards a de-escalation of the conflict, including an immediate ceasefire between the State of Israel and Hamas and a redoubling of international efforts to end the occupation and establish a just and lasting peace.

(2) That this House further notes that:

(a) the comments by Israeli officials referring to Palestinian people as ‘human animals’ and cutting off their supply of essential services such as food and electricity are shockingly genocidal and should be condemned,

(b) assertions by Israeli officials that the actions of Hamas justify a ‘complete siege of the Gaza Strip’ are a blatant attempt by the Israeli government to occupy more of the Strip in breach of international law and should be condemned,

(c) statements about recent events in this conflict by much of the Australian and international media and politicians has:

needlessly conflated the actions of the State of Israel and actions of Hamas as being actions of Israeli people or Palestinian people respectively, as well as dangerously conflating criticisms of the actions of the State of Israel with criticisms of Jewish people,

contributed to ongoing misinformation about the history of the conflict in Gaza and the ongoing persecution and violence towards Palestinian people, and

highlighted the lack of empathy that many Australians have for people in countries with different cultural, political or religious settings to our own,

(d) the decision to light up the Opera House in the colours of the Israeli flag is misguided and represents a trend of continuously ignoring the plight of the Palestinian people and the historical context of the conflict in Gaza, and

(e) the historical failure of the Australian Government to support the decolonisation of Palestine represents a clear failure to challenge all forms of settler colonialism, including the rights of First Nations peoples in this country.

Watch the full motion in Parliament here.

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Amidst the warmongering of the major parties, the Greens stand for peace and justice

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