Middle East conflict
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (16:37): For the last nine months we have watched as the people of Gaza have suffered horrors beyond our comprehension: tens of thousands of Palestinian people killed at the hands of the Israeli military; tens of thousands of children crushed under buildings, killed by bombs or shot by the Israeli military. But let us not forget that amongst all of this absolute horror Palestinians have also been suffering for a lot longer than nine months. Just two weeks ago the International Court of Justice advisory report found Israel is illegally occupying not just Gaza but the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The ICJ have ordered this annexation to end, along with reparations and sanctions, and they have also ordered other nations not to render aid or assistance in maintaining Israel’s presence in those illegally occupied territories.
Yet Labor here in Victoria is aiding and abetting the Israeli Ministry of Defense. In fact it has signed a secret MOU specifically to offer mutual support. Labor in Victoria act like they cannot do anything about this war, but in fact they are actively supporting the Israeli military and Israeli weapons manufacturers, including financially through our taxpayer dollars and including being a major sponsor of the land forces arms and weapons expo coming to Melbourne – the state Labor government is a sponsor of that. Labor could do something, but instead they stand by and wring their hands as more children are killed.