Write to your MP
Australia’s friend Israel needs your support.
It is important for Labor members of Parliament to hear from you.
Don’t let the noisy extremists drown out your voice!
Take a few minutes to send a letter to Labor members of Parliament.
By completing the form below, you can let your representative know that you vote and support Israel.
The letter below will be sent to your Labor member in your electorate on your behalf.
Thank you for standing up for Israel.
What your MP will receive
Dear Labor team,
I am an Australian voter. I want to make it clear that I support Australia’s long-term mate and ally, Israel, and that I vote!
Like all decent Australians, I was horrified at the attack on Israel made by Hamas terrorists on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people, mostly Jewish civilians, including at least one Australian citizen, were killed. I know that you, like me, condemn absolutely the coldblooded murder of unarmed men, women and children, the systematic rape, gratuitous and sadistic sexual mutilation of women and the taking of more than 200 hostages, who are now being held in Gaza.
I thank and congratulate Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor government for their immediate and resolute condemnation of the Hamas attacks and for their support for Israel’s right to defend itself.
I am concerned, however, that since Israel began its military operation to remove Hamas from control of Gaza, some people have forgotten the horrific events of October 7 and have uncritically repeated many falsehoods about Israel and the current situation. I hope that you, as my Labor representative, will speak out against these falsehoods.
In particular, I hope you will make the following points:
- Israel has the same right as any other country to defend itself against terrorist attacks. Since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, it has turned the whole territory into a base for firing missiles at Israeli cities and launching attacks against Israel. Israel is right to insist that Hamas must be removed from control of Gaza.
- Most of the deaths in Gaza since Israel launched its operations have been caused by Hamas’s policy of using the population of Gaza as human shields.
- Hamas uses schools, hospitals, mosques and apartment blocks as missile sites and builds tunnels for terror attacks under schools and hospitals.
- Israel is not engaged in “indiscriminate bombing” or “carpet bombing’ of Gaza, nor in “collective punishment” of the people of Gaza, nor is it “targeting civilians” in Gaza. Israel is targeting the terrorist infrastructure which Hamas has built. Casualties caused by these operations are the responsibility of Hamas.
- Israel has not bombed any hospital in Gaza. Israeli ground forces have entered hospitals to remove Hamas terrorists and to expose the tunnels and weapons storage under them.
- Israel cannot agree to a permanent ceasefire until Hamas is removed from control of Gaza. A ceasefire now would leave Hamas in power and free to rebuild its base and plan new terror attacks on Israel. Hamas’s leaders have repeatedly threatened new attacks like that of 7 October.
- Israel has agreed to one humanitarian pause in its operations to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza civilians. Australia supports further such pauses, which is why we voted for the recent UN resolution.
I hope you understand that Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East and who shares Australia’s values, and the only country in the region which has a free media, a free trade union movement, equal rights for women, freedom for all religions, and recognised rights for the LGBTIQ community. These rights and freedoms apply equally to the Muslim and Christian communities in Israel.
None of these things exist in the territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority, let alone in Gaza under the control of Hamas. The Hamas regime in Gaza is violently opposed to all these things, and has denied the two million people of Gaza all of these rights since it seized power in 2007.
I draw your attention to statements by the Israeli Labor Party and the Israeli trade union federation, the Histadrut, in support of the current Israeli military operation.
- “[Calling for an unconditional] cease-fire now is giving permission to Hamas to continue rearming itself, continue stealing food, water, medicine and fuel from its own people and yes, rebasing itself. [People in Gaza] are dying because Hamas is using them as human shields, because they have based everything from equipment to missiles to their headquarters in the midst of civilian functions.” – Merav Michaeli, leader of the Israeli Labor Party
- “War is not taking place against the Palestinians. This is a moment for us to unequivocally defeat the religious extremism of Hamas, that brought so much suffering to both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.” – Avital Shapira, director of international relations at the Histadrut.
I support Labor’s long-standing policy of support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, to be achieved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Labor must reject those fringe elements who call for a “one-state solution”, which would entail the destruction of the State of Israel and the expulsion or worse of 7 million Jewish Israelis.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email. I hope you will take on board the points I have made, and that your future speeches and comments on this conflict will reflect them.
Many Australians like me will be looking at how the Australian government treats our mate and ally Israel who shares our values when deciding how we vote at the next election.
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