Palestinian-Australians horrified by government stance

Kat Wong | October 11, 2023

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 were 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 response of the federal government and other political leaders.

“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 the Islamist group Hamas launched attacks on Israeli towns on Saturday from the Palestinian territories.

The victims were overwhelmingly civilians who were gunned down in homes, on streets and at an outdoor dance party.

Scores of Israelis and some foreigners were captured and taken to Gaza as hostages and paraded through the streets.

The death toll from Israel’s retaliatory air strikes is believed to have killed at least 830 people and wounded 4250 in Gaza.

News Corp on Wednesday reported Sydney-born grandmother Galit Carbone, 66, was killed by militants at the Be’eri kibbutz, close to the Gaza Strip.

There are also reports mother of two Adi Kaplon, the daughter-in-law of an Australian man, is being held hostage by Hamas.

The Israeli government has ordered a complete siege which will cut off food, fuel, water and electricity to Gaza while Hamas – which Australia has designated a terrorist organisation – has threatened to kill hostages if the bombing continues.

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 over a long period of time but added “nothing justified what we saw on the weekend.”

West Australian Labor Senator Fatima Payman said the two-state solution, backed by Australia, was the only viable solution to the bloodshed.

“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 said Israelis and Palestinians are not affected equally by the conflict.

“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.