War-torn Labor: Anthony Albanese’s duo of Ed Husic and Anne Aly put Israel in dock
Anthony Albanese faces a dangerous political split over Israel as two of his ministers accuse the Jewish state of war crimes and unions slam ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians.
Anthony Albanese faces a dangerous political split over Israel after two of his ministers accused the Jewish state of war crimes and trade unions claimed “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians prompted Hamas’s October 7 attack on the country.
Labor’s unanimous parliamentary support for Israel’s right to defend itself was undermined on Thursday when cabinet minister Ed Husic and colleague Anne Aly warned that 2.3 million residents of Gaza were being “collectively punished” for the crimes of terrorists.
The ministers, both Muslims, were backed by a host of trade union leaders, who claimed the terrorist attack that killed more than 1400 Israelis was a “direct result” of Israel’s “illegal occupation of Palestinian land” and policies of “apartheid and ethnic cleansing”.
Nearly two dozen NSW MPs joined the call for Israel to comply with international humanitarian law, in a statement signed by 15 Labor members, one Liberal and seven Greens.
The divisions in Labor came after US President Joe Biden struck a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israeli Defence Forces, backed by US intelligence, on Thursday produced further evidence that Hamas’s brother terror group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad, was responsible for the explosion that the Palestinian Health Ministry claimed killed 500 people at the Al-Ahli Hospital. And the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah has also stepped up its attacks on Israel over the last day.
The Prime Minister on Thursday sought to ease tensions ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive against Gaza, telling parliament that some in Australia’s Jewish and Islamic communities were feeling “under siege”.
“We’ve received briefings on an ongoing basis about the need to remain calm, to be careful about our language,” Mr Albanese said, referring to ASIO warnings of a breakdown in social cohesion.
“There's no place for hate here. There’s no place for anti-Semitism, as there’s no place for Islamophobia, in this country.”
The Abanese government on Thursday night announced it would give $25m to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and a further $25m to Palestinian and Muslim community groups, to help Australian residents suffering as a result of the war.
Mr Albanese’s comments followed those of Mr Husic, who asked why city landmarks had not been illuminated with the colours of the Palestinian flag, as the Sydney Opera House was for Israel.
“The number of Palestinians that have been killed so far equates to the number of people who lost their lives in 9/11,” the Industry Minister told ABC radio.
“We don't see any public landmarks in Australia that are being lit up in red, black, white and green.”
Days after voting against a Greens motion accusing Israel of war crimes, Mr Husic declared: “I feel very strongly that Palestinians are being collectively punished here for Hamas’s barbarism.”
Collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
Dr Aly endorsed her colleague’s assessment, saying children were being killed by Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Palestinian enclave. “It's difficult to argue that those children are Hamas and it’s difficult to argue that what is currently occurring is not a form of collective punishment,” the Early Childhood Minister said.
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the ministers had exposed “Labor’s deep division on the question of Israel”, urging Mr Albanese to “ immediately clear up the confusion” or call on Mr Husic to resign.
“Cabinet ministers do not get the luxury of freelancing on foreign policy and the precedent is very clear when ministers publicly disagree with their government’s official position,” Ms Ley said.
Peter Dutton noted Mr Albanese was yet to speak to Mr Netanyahu following the October 7 attack, despite requesting a call with the wartime leader soon after the carnage.
The Opposition Leader urged the Prime Minister to stop in Tel Aviv next week ahead of his state visit to Washington DC, to “stand with Israel at this time as other world leaders have done”.
As Israel and Hamas traded accusations over a strike on a Gaza hospital, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it was difficult to say which side was responsible for the tragedy. But Senator Wong noted that the US National Security Council’s statement that suggested Israel was not responsible for the explosion.
She said the government recognised the “great distress” felt by the Jewish and Palestinian community, and urged politicians to “speak as one” on the matter.
Australia’s Jewish community warned that Mr Husic and Ms Aly had wrongly implied a “moral equivalence” between the actions of Hamas and Israel.
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said: “There is a massive difference between the unprovoked murderous brutality of the Hamas attacks, and Israel doing what it must to exercise that right of self-defence, in a situation where Hamas is deliberately and illegally hiding its fighters and military assets among Gaza civilians.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said Mr Husic was “a fine person”, but the only way to ensure the safety of Palestinians and Israelis was “to destroy Hamas completely so that they can never perform these atrocities and draw the region into war again”.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil defended Mr Husic, saying she was “proud” to count him as a colleague and friend.
“Like many other Muslim Australians around our country, he is feeling what is going on in this region incredibly deeply,” she said.
Victorian Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou also backed the minister’s comments, saying the death of innocent citizens in war was “against humanitarian law”.
But a Labor MP expressed “surprise and disappointment” at Mr Husic’s stance, saying they could further inflame the situation. ”It was totally inappropriate,” the MP said.
Electrical Trade Union national secretary Michael Wright condemned the Hamas attack as “disgusting”, but said Palestinian civilians were not to blame.
“How could there be an argument that says cutting off water, electricity and food is not collective punishment?” he said.
A statement co-ordinated by the NSW National Tertiary Education Union, signed by dozens of union leaders, expressed horror at the violence, laying the blame squarely on Israel.
The ACTU said the union movement was gravely concerned at the escalation of violence, warning unrelenting Israeli bombing was causing an “urgent humanitarian crisis for Palestinians”.
Additional reporting: Alexi Demetriadi
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