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Below is an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong and defence minister Richard Marles, initiated by Jews Against the Occupation ‘48. See below to sign on.

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Dear Prime Minister and Ministers,

We will be straightforward.

We had believed that, beneath the realities of political life, you were principled people, with a deep respect for your office and for the law, including international law. We had assumed that you valued Australia’s international standing enough to ensure our adherence to these laws. We had hoped that you, as representatives of the Australian people, would take Australia’s responsibilities as a member of the international community of nations very seriously.

As Australia has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Conventions (specifically the Genocide Convention, the Children’s Rights Convention and the Refugee Rights Convention), we had expected ethically coherent and legally appropriate actions from you in response to the unspeakable harm Israel has unleashed on Palestine.

We have been hoping and waiting in vain. Nothing in the past twelve months has propelled you into meaningful action.

No number of Palestinian children killed or maimed and traumatised for life; no number of Palestinians, including minors, tortured and raped in Israeli prisons and detention camps; no number of civilians driven from place to desolate place in forced evacuations. 

No amount of wanton destruction of Palestinian towns, villages, schools, hospitals, farmland, universities, homes, markets, libraries, museums, cultural and religious sites, refugee camps, trees, animals, or essential civilian infrastructure (such as water purification plants, solar energy panels, and sewerage systems); no level of deliberate starvation inflicted; no amount of humanitarian aid blocked; no type of illegal or experimental weapon used on a captive population, inflicting previously-unknown injuries impossible to treat due to the catastrophic conditions.   

None of these egregious crimes has awoken any humanitarian impulse.

No number of UN and other aid workers murdered; no number of doctors and nurses killed or kidnapped; no number of journalists shot dead; no amount of indiscriminate or AI targeted bombing; no number of petitions and open letters by medical professionals, by legal experts, by journalists, by trauma specialists, by holocaust historians, by academics and students, by human rights groups, by dismayed and horrified citizens both young and old of every faith and background; no number of impassioned speeches in the UN assembly; not even the measured and explicit rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) calling for an immediate and unconditional stop to Israel’s illegal onslaught, its unlawful occupation and apartheid regime.

None of it has prompted any recourse to appropriate diplomatic response. 

You must be aware of the ongoing horror. It is your duty to remain up to date about events of such momentous nature. Therefore, you know, or should know, of the many credible reports debunking Israel’s lies and propaganda, including those about what happened on October 7. You know, or should know, that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledges activating the Hannibal Directive, thus deliberately killing many Israelis lest they become hostages; that no babies were beheaded; and that there is no verifiable evidence of systematic rape. Furthermore, that Israel refuses to cooperate with the UN body attempting to report on the horrific events of that day.

Likewise, it would be irresponsible of you not to have familiarised yourselves with the historical context of current events. You know, or should know, that Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people did not begin on October 8, 2023; and that the Gaza Ghetto uprising was the logical and full-blown outcome of decades-long incremental ethnic cleansing, ruthless siege, brutal military occupation and cruel apartheid. 

Does it not worry you that Australia, through trading with Israel, including with weapons and surveillance companies, and providing diplomatic cover in the UN, entailing subservience to the US and to our own Israel lobby, is complicit in Israel’s crimes? 

Israel has made it abundantly clear that it does not want a ceasefire, not even at the cost of its own citizens’ lives. Nor will it countenance a Palestinian State. On the contrary, it is expanding its lethal attacks on the illegally occupied West Bank, with the obvious objective of de facto annexation. It aims to annihilate the Palestinian people and their identity by brute force, while provoking surrounding countries and risking escalation to regional war. Israel has become a rogue state, operating with impunity and blaming its victims.

The UN long ago concluded that Israel’s control over the Gaza Strip constitutes occupation, thus denying Israel any right to “defend” itself. The ICJ has left the world in no doubt that this occupation and siege are unlawful, along with Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank, and its annexation of the Golan Heights. The ICJ has also concluded that Israel practices apartheid. Its ruling calls on all countries to withdraw support for Israel while it continues to act unlawfully, and has clearly spelled out that whoever insists on enabling these crimes is complicit. 

Are you therefore not only defying the highest court in the world, but even justifying Israel’s genocidal onslaught in Gaza, its occupation and apartheid? Could it be that you cannot find the courage to deviate from the “ironclad commitment” of the US and take a sovereign decision? Does your ambition to propel Australia into the top ten players in the global armaments industry outweigh your obligation to restore our country’s increasingly damaged international reputation?

Maybe you are being bullied by the Israel lobby, including the right-wing Christian Zionist movement in this country? It is no longer plausible to claim that criticism of the State of Israel, condemnation of its barbarity, and the demand for Israel to respect international law are antisemitic. Perhaps it is convenient for you to have cover for your apparent inhumanity and your own contempt for international law. 

However, after more than a year of prevarication and appalling inaction, do you deserve the benefit of the doubt? Australians sickened by Israel’s shocking violence and outraged by its impunity are reeling. We want to know why you have not implemented the most peaceful and effective way of bringing this hellish catastrophe to an end: a complete boycott, sanctions and divestment policy on Israel? Surely that would be the least Australia could, and should, do. 

We are asking these blunt questions because we demand accountability from our government. We expect a substantive, comprehensive, and timely response. History will not absolve Israel, nor its allies, be they wilfully blind or not. 

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[Click to see the endorsements so far. To sign on email admin@jao48australia.org and provide your name and organisation, title and/or position if any).]