‘Our support for Israel is unshakeable’
CONTRARY to the reports on the front page of The AJN last week, at its national conference last weekend the Australian Labor Party did not resolve to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state. The resolution makes clear that Labor continues to support a just and lasting two-state solution to the conflict, directly negotiated by the parties, based on the 1967 borders and subject to agreed land swaps, and in accordance with international law.
CONTRARY to the reports on the front page of The AJN last week, at its national conference last weekend the Australian Labor Party did not resolve to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state. The resolution makes clear that Labor continues to support a just and lasting two-state solution to the conflict, directly negotiated by the parties, based on the 1967 borders and subject to agreed land swaps, and in accordance with international law.
The resolution also unequivocally rejects the BDS campaign against Israel, reinforcing the denunciation of the BDS by the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, the Deputy Leader, Tanya Plibersek, and other senior members of Labor’s front bench including Anthony Albanese.
In restating Labor’s long-standing support for a resolution of the conflict based on two states, Labor rejected all versions of a so-called one-state solution – either Greater Israel or Greater Palestine – as a denial of the right of self-determination of one people, and a violation of international law and United Nations resolutions.
The resolution reinforces that Labor will continue to support the parties in their progress towards a negotiated settlement. It also makes clear that no Labor government will recognise a Palestinian state unless the necessary conditions are met. Many of those conditions do not presently exist. Long established principles of international law require that to be recognised as a state there must be a Palestinian government capable of entering into binding agreements with other states.
Clearly that would require an end to the feuding between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the terrorist government of Hamas in Gaza, and for the Palestinians to conduct free and fair elections and to form a single government. If it is to be a part of any future Palestinian state, Hamas must also meet the Quartet conditions of recognising Israel’s right to exist, renouncing violence, and accepting all relevant international agreements and UN resolutions. Of course, these conditions for recognition may take some time to be met. In particular, I consider it imperative that the PA, Hamas and other Palestinian factions cease all public statements and incitement by their officials and in their media that promote political violence or that are otherwise inimical to the achievement of a peaceful, two-state resolution of the conflict.
Hamas, which is a listed terrorist organisation under Australian law, must renounce its genocidal Charter, commit to re-establishing the rule of law, and end summary executions and the persecution of minorities, including in relation to sexual orientation.
The resolution criticises election campaign statements by Prime Minister Netanyahu that were clearly divisive, and that no observer could think were conducive to peace.
It is my hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu will in future follow the example of leaders like the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who defended Israel as one of its greatest soldiers, and who as Labour prime minister served Israel again as a courageous warrior for peace.
It is inevitable that commentary on the actions of Israelis and Palestinians will draw passionate responses, and the resolution passed by the ALP on the weekend is no different. One of the more common criticisms is not with the text of the resolution itself, but with the context. Specifically, some people have asked me why has Labor passed a resolution calling for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, while not passing resolutions calling for an end to conflicts and atrocities in places like Syria, Iraq or Somalia?
In fact, other resolutions at the conference dealt with a range of foreign policy issues, and included powerful condemnation of the persecution of minorities by Daesh.
But for me the answer to the question is clear. Since before the birth of the modern State of Israel Australia has had deep ties with the Zionist dream. Whether it was the bonds of personal friendship forged between Australian Diggers stationed in British Mandate Palestine and the Zionist chalutzim of the kibbutz movement, or the compassion that Australians felt for the victims of the Shoah who arrived as immigrants to Australia after the Second World War, Australians have long felt a tie of kinship with Israel and an interest in its future that transcends that of many other nations. Many members of my party remember that it was Labor’s foreign minister Doc Evatt who was the first to vote in the General Assembly in favour of the establishment of Israel under United Nations Resolution 181, and that in 1949 it was Labor’s Chifley Government that ensured that Australia was among the first nations to formally recognise the new-born State of Israel.
In over three decades in the ALP I have seen a great many members of my party travel to Israel, and return with a deeper understanding of the strength of Israel’s achievements and a renewed sympathy of the scale of the challenges it faces.
Israel, and the Palestinians evoke passionate interest in members of my party. I have always felt that passionate interest is not a cause for criticism, but a reason to be proud. Australia’s support for Israel is unshakeable, and in what has become a deeply divided Parliament, support for Israel continues to be one of the few matters of rock-solid bipartisan agreement.
I have no doubt that all Australian governments will continue to passionately support the State of Israel and the peace process with the Palestinians.
MARK DREYFUS
Mark Dreyfus is the Member for Isaacs and Deputy Manager of Opposition Business.
comments