Carr derailed
A NSW Labor motion urging the next Labor federal government to recognise Palestine will not impact federal Labor’s foreign policy, according to several federal Labor politicians.
A NSW Labor motion urging the next Labor federal government to recognise Palestine will not impact federal Labor’s foreign policy, according to several federal Labor politicians.
The motion, which was passed at the NSW Labor Conference almost unanimously, “urges the next Labor government to recognise Palestine” but also notes that Labor “supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist within secure and recognised borders”.
The original motion, spearheaded by former foreign minister Bob Carr, didn’t include the second line which recognised Israel. Carr gave a one-sided speech at the conference claiming that the motion was historic.
But before the vote itself, NSW Labor’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael Forshaw gave some balance.
“There are two facts I would like to mention,” Forshaw, who didn’t want to be drawn into the debate before Carr spoke but felt he had no choice afterwards, said.
“100 per cent of Hamas do not support the State of Israel. There are still 48 countries around the world that refuse to recognise Israel.”
Following the conference Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said that unilateral recognition “flies in the face of international law” and would not assist Israelis or the Palestinians.
“As Penny Wong, our foreign affairs spokesman, Tanya Plibersek as our deputy leader and Bill Shorten as our leader has made clear foreign policy for a Labor government is a federal matter and it will be set federally by decisions made by the federal shadow cabinet by the federal caucus,” Dreyfus said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that anyone who supports a two-state solution ultimately wants to recognise Palestine, but that the timing of that recognition is important.
“There’s two issues, one is the legitimate aspirations, and I stress legitimate aspirations of Palestinians to have their own state and I do support that, but also the legitimate aspirations of the people of Israel to live in secure borders,” Shorten said.
Labor’s federal Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the conference motion reflected the frustration of the grass roots of the Labor Party.
“We’ve long supported a two-state solution. We still support a two-state solution,” Bowen said.
“We support strong and secure borders for both of those states. But I think the party is expressing some frustration that it is taking so long to get there so you’re seeing that urging of more progress towards recognition of the Palestinian state.
“And of course, it will be in the context of Labor’s long-held view of supporting a two-state solution with strong and secure borders for both of those states.”
When asked if there was a “real prospect if Labor were to be elected in the next year or two, that the government would move to immediately recognise Palestine”, Bowen said “no”.
He then clarified and said, “It is up to the incoming prime minister and foreign minister to consider what process they would put around Australia’s position on a two-state solution and the moves towards Palestinian recognition and how they would progress that through international forums.”
The NSW Labor Israel Action Committee (LIAC) vowed to “continue to strongly advocate for a more balanced position on Israel and pledged to continue to challenge Mr Carr who has conducted what some have described as an ‘obsessive campaign’ for the last three years”.
LIAC patron and NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel deputy chair Walt Secord said he and his group have worked hard to find a balanced and sensible position on Israel.
“This was a tough battle and involved hours of internal debate and discussion, but it was important to restore balance and to fight for a two-state solution and Israel’s right to exist within safe and secure borders,” Secord told The AJN.
“No one should forget that the original motion was deeply offensive to those who want a just and peaceful settlement; the Labor Israel Action Committee could not allow the unamended motion to go ahead unchecked and unfettered.”
Labelling the motion “counterproductive”, Zionist Federation of Australia president Danny Lamm noted that NSW Labor, as well as state Labor parties in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, are “attempting to reward a criminal, fanatical, hate-inciting Palestinian leadership with recognition, without any sort of requirement on that leadership to demonstrate peaceful intentions”.
“It is incredibly disappointing that fellow Australians led by the ALP should see this as a reasonable approach to the only democratic state in the Middle East, which has tried repeatedly to resolve the conflict to no avail,” Lamm said.
He added, “The wrong headedness of the motion and those die-hards who supported it despite all of the evidence that suggests any such State would be an abject failure is hardly ameliorated by the well worn sop of recognising Israel’s right to exist. Israel has existed for nigh on 70 years and its ‘right’ to do so is not in question by anyone other than the Palestinian lobby that continues to chant for a State from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea and thus seek Israel’s destruction. That will never occur and the sooner that they accept that fact the sooner they can expect to fulfil the necessary pre-conditions of recognition of their much longed for State.”
Full coverage in this week’s AJN.
JOSHUA LEVI
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