Fatima Payman resigns from parliamentary committees after ‘genocide’ comments

Fatima Payman has stepped down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised the Labor senator for using the controversial phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

Payman accused Israel of conducting a genocide in Gaza, in a dramatic intervention two weeks ago, also calling for Australia to end trade with Israel, implement sanctions and immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

Government sources confirmed that Payman had resigned from the Senate Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.

Labor Senator Fatima Payman has quit two parliamentary foreign affairs committees after splitting with the party over policy on Israel.Credit: Alex Ellinghuasen

“The government’s policy is clear – we support a two-state solution,” a government spokesperson said.

Labor MPs said they did not believe Payman had been ordered to step down by government leadership, but had instead decided to do so herself to avoid being targeted by the Coalition and the Greens.

Payman did not respond to a request for comment.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who called for Albanese to remove Payman from her committee positions, said: “Someone who uses a phrase that calls for the violent destruction of the Jewish people has no place on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade.”

Jewish groups regard the “From the river to the sea” slogan as a coded call for the elimination of Israel, while others have insisted it is simply a call for freedom and equal rights for Palestinians.

Speaking at Parliament House during budget week, Payman said: “Instead of advocating for justice, I see our leaders performatively gesture defending the oppressor’s right to oppress, while gaslighting the global community about the rights of self-defence.

“My conscience has been uneasy for far too long and I must call this out for what it is.

“This is a genocide and we need to stop pretending otherwise.

“The lack of clarity, the moral confusion, the indecisiveness is eating at the heart of this nation.”

Labor senators joined with the Coalition to condemn the “river to the sea” slogan Payman used at the end of her remarks, while Albanese said he considered Payman’s use of the phrase inappropriate.

The Senate voted 56-12 to criticise the slogan, saying it “opposes Israel’s right to exist, and is frequently used by those who seek to intimidate Jewish Australians via acts of antisemitism”.

Payman, 29, was born in Afghanistan and is the first woman to regularly wear a hijab in the federal parliament.

Asked about Payman’s comments during question time in the House of Representatives, Albanese said: “The chant, ‘From the river to the sea’, has been used from time to time by some in the pro-Palestinian movement, by some who argue that Israel should be just one state as well and that Gaza and the West Bank should be wiped out. It is inappropriate.

“I very strongly believe in a two-state solution. I strongly believe in the right of Israel to exist within secure borders. I strongly believe as well in the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”

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