We seek to better understand the many complex issues that impact the politics and policy settings of Labor in government.
It is rare to find black and white answers. Included are a few topics that will be expanded on in the future.
While the scale and sheer brutality of the acts of terrorism committed by Hamas militants in southern Israel on 7 October defy explanation, the unprecedented attack on Israeli civilians needs to be seen in the perspective of the specific circumstances applying to the Gaza strip.
Some of the salient facts relevant to this conflict — facts which may well be lost on many people reading reports and seeing footage — are as follows:
During recent discourse there has understandably been a great deal of emotion and distress infusing the language used. Our hearts break for the Israeli and Gazan victims of this conflict and that is how it should be. Hopefully this will drive us to donate to humanitarian relief and to combine as an international community to put an end to the Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian threats against Israel. Hopefully also will lead to a renewed effort to get the peace process going regarding Israel and the Palestinians.
Michael Easson speech – ALP National conference 2023
Delegates, good people can agree on the spirit of a resolution –like the one before us – even if they disagree on some details.
There can be no peace without justice, but equally there can be no justice without truth.
The central and tragic truth of the Israel-Palestinian conflict is that two peoples, the Jewish people and the Palestinians, have deep,centuries-long historical ties to a territory no larger than half of Tasmania.
Every now and then even the most cynical and desensitized member of the Jewish community is shocked by the persistence and protean nature of Jew-hatred.
In the Shoah’s aftermath, faithful antisemites proffered no deathbed confessions.
Like most viruses, antisemitism merely mutated to infect or reinfect its host. Old-fashioned Jew-hate endures, whether casual antisemitism or violent rhetorical and physical manifestations, something Israeli and diaspora Jews too regularly encounter.
In agreeing to ceasefires Israel has been put in a terrible dilemma. It must weigh one clearly stated war objective of freeing hostages against the other key objective of the permanent elimination of the Hamas terror and war making capability in Gaza. But if ceasefires are used to preserve Hamas in place in Gaza, then the road to a unified Palestinian government and reinvigorating the peace process will be forfeited.
