Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. TOTOTO Bad blood continues to linger within the Labor Party over the Israel-Palestine conflict after the party’s national conference, with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas questioning MP Ed Husic’s motives in pressuring the party to increase
Bad blood continues to linger within the Labor Party over the Israel-Palestine conflict after the party’s national conference, with South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas questioning MP Ed Husic’s motives in pressuring the party to increase criticism of Israel.
Husic, a former cabinet minister, said on Saturday he “couldn’t give a shit” if Labor heavyweights froze him after he tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the party to adopt a resolution recognizing genocide and apartheid claims against Israel.
Husic also wanted the party to support the withdrawal of Australian trade and defense diplomats from Tel Aviv, but the party rejected the move without debate.
“I hope he is making his contributions from a perspective of wanting to do good rather than seeking attention for ulterior motives,” Malinauskas, widely seen as a possible future prime minister, told Sky News on Sunday.
“I’m not necessarily suggesting that’s the case.”
Husic did not respond to a request for comment on Malinauskas’ claims.
The Friends of Israel Labor group, led by former leader Mike Kelly, said in a statement that it was “deeply disturbed” that party power brokers had removed from earlier drafts of the political platform references to the need for Hamas to disarm and not play any governing role in Gaza.
“There was no excuse for not remedying this in light of the extensive comments and discussions that highlighted that removing the reference could only be interpreted as the movement embracing Hamas,” the group said.
“Hamas is a licensed terrorist organization under Australian law and has committed the most heinous acts imaginable, including the cold-blooded killing of men, women and children, along with systematic and sadistic sexual violence.”
Speaking generally about the growing opposition to Israel in progressive politics, the group argued that there was “a concerted attempt by hardcore violent revolutionary communists in alliance with Islamist extremists to subvert the trade union movement, branches and the Labor Party.”
“This must be cauterized if we do not want the party to become irrelevant to the needs of the Australian people and suffer political consequences in the face of the growing threat of One Nation,” he said.
Albanese told ABC Insiders on Sunday that “the party’s platform has struck the right balance” in Middle East politics.
“I support Israel’s right to exist within secure borders. I also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians to have their own state and to live in peace, security and prosperity,” he said.
“Now we want that to come together, and Australia can play a role in promoting harmony rather than conflict.”
Albanese said the fact that Labor MPs Josh Burns, who is Jewish, and Basem Abdo, the son of Palestinian refugees, jointly backed the platform showed the party was overwhelmingly united on the issue.
The final platform approved on Saturday says that “the Labor Party unreservedly condemns terrorism and violent extremism, including those perpetrated by Hamas and other extremists.”
It also states that the party “opposes the annexation of Palestinian territory and wants Israel to end its illegal settlement activities and occupation, to achieve security for Palestine, for Israel and for the region.”
Labor groups Friends of Palestine and Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) declined to comment on the outcome of the national conference.
APAN called on the Labor Party to go further by supporting an end to military cooperation with Israel and forcing the Future Fund to divest from companies operating in Israel.
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jews, said: “The government has made Hamas play no role in any Palestinian governing authority and be militarily neutralized as a condition of its support for the Palestinian state, and we expect it to adhere to that position regardless of the wording of the party’s platform.
“We are concerned to ensure that the conference resolution does not signal a change in government policy in the future.”
Council for Jewish Affairs/Australia/Israel executive director Colin Rubenstein said the group was relieved Husic’s “highly extreme and inflammatory proposal” was rejected, but was “deeply disappointed” by the removal of an explicit call for Hamas to disarm and reform the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority delegation in Canberra welcomed the platform, saying: “We particularly appreciate Australia’s recognition of the State of Palestine and the platform’s support for Palestinian self-determination, opposition to illegal settlements and annexation, commitment to international humanitarian law and support for the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.”
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Matthew Knott is foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect through X, Facebook either email.From our partners
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