Palestinian-Australians ‘horrified’ by government slant
Kat Wong |
When Ramia Abdo Sultan woke up, 70 of her family members had been evacuated from their home in Gaza and her 25-year-old relative was dead.
Opening her phone to find out how her elected representatives would respond, all she could see was Australian politicians defending Israel’s bombing campaign on the Gaza strip.
The Sydney woman is just one of many in the Palestinian diaspora frustrated by the government.
“Palestinian Australians and their supporters have felt horrified by the one-sided response,” Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni said.
“(Israel) must not be given carte blanche to think they can get away with a genocide”.
In a continuation of a 75-year-long conflict, more than 1000 people are dead after Islamist group Hamas launched attacks on Israeli towns on Saturday.
The Australian newspaper on Tuesday reported Adi Kaplon, the daughter-in-law of an Australian man, had been captured by Hamas militants.
Following retaliatory attacks that have killed at least another 700, the Israeli government ordered a complete siege which will cut off food, fuel, water and electricity to Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged restraint to protect civilians, but did not weigh in on whether restraint should be exercised by Tel Aviv when it came to the blockade.
“It’s always very difficult from over here to make judgments about what security approach other countries take,” she told ABC radio.
“Israel has the right to defend itself.”
Without support from the government, Ms Sultan says Palestinian Australians must tread carefully when establishing even basic facts about their families’ plights.
“We don’t have that freedom to stand up for justice,” she said.
“In the same way he condemned the actions of Hamas, the prime minister should equally call out the siege of 2.3 million Palestinians living inside Gaza.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged Palestinian suffering had occurred over a long period of time but added “nothing justified what we saw on the weekend.”
However his colleague Senator Fatima Payman took a bolder stance.
“The price tag for peace can not be the destruction of Palestine,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“The two-state solution is the only viable solution. This can only be achieved through the recognition and restoration of the basic rights and responsibilities of both parties.”
Ms Sultan maintains the focus should remain on civilians, but said attacks do not affect them equally.
“By no means am I taking away from the other side, but in Israel if there is an attack, they have access to hospitals, to medical equipment and so forth,” she said.
“The Palestinians inside of Gaza have nothing – hospitals and ambulances are being targeted as we speak.”
Authorities are working to assess the wellbeing of roughly 10,000 Australians living in and visiting Israel.
AAP
