Australia does not have the power to end this war
'What we do have the power to do is ensure the communities affected by it here can live safely and without discrimination.'
On Thursday morning, I met with a Jewish man and an Arabic woman.
They were visiting Australia from the Middle East to share how they are working together on the ground to build a more peaceful future.
It was inspiring and something that our community often hears about from our family and friends in Israel – but rarely read about in the media.
Only by coming together and agreeing to co-exist can there be peace. It cannot be imposed from outside.
Like many of us, I have dreamed of seeing peace between Israelis and Palestinians for as long as I can remember.
Over the course of the past year, that dream has become stronger, even though right now it feels further away than ever before.
Every Jew across the world felt the pain of October 7. It is a day that will now be etched into our collective memory forever.
For over 400 days we have painfully followed the stories of hostages online. We have mourned with their families and held onto hope for those still alive.
Equally, seeing the destruction in Gaza and the loss of innocent life has haunted us.
Our community has always been full of empathy. Our concern for all human life is a strength, not a weakness.
At the same time, we know that the way forward out of this war needs to be a two-sided agreement.
Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live peacefully, safely and securely.
But this cannot be a reality with Hamas, or when this war is treated like a zero-sum game.
The pathway out requires compromise. It requires a willingness to find agreement where there hasn’t been before.
At home, the past year has not been easy. I take my role as a representative of Melbourne’s Jewish community extremely seriously.
Not just because I am your federal member – but because the Jewish community is my community too.
Being a Member of Parliament means being held accountable by the people you represent. I receive countless emails from the people of Macnamara. Some issues are easier to solve than others. All of it comes with the job.
Unfortunately, another part of my job over the past year has been confronting ongoing and relentless antisemitism. I know my experience is not unique, and that Jewish people across Australia are feeling unsafe every day.
Like each of you, I have lived and felt this conflict. I have felt the divisiveness and the vilification.
But through it all, I have sought to be a voice for peace and focus on advocacy within the government.
I have helped to deliver policies and outcomes to protect our community – such as millions of dollars for CSG and laws to criminalise violent hate speech and doxing. Now, I am Chairing an inquiry into antisemitism on campus.
Being a voice inside government for the Jewish community means I also have difficult conversations with my colleagues.
There have been times when in order to represent you, I have had no choice but to be a lone voice. But it is not to be commentator – it is to get outcomes. This can only be done when your representative is inside government.
Recently, I know many people were hurt by the United Nations vote. As often is the case, motions get put forward that have components we as a government agree and disagree with.
Last week, Australia voted with 155 countries, including the UK, Germany and New Zealand in support of a motion that included a range of policy statements. The Foreign Minister released a statement after reiterating that Australia did not agree with everything in the motion.
To be clear, it remains the government position that borders, security and Jerusalem are final status issues to be resolved as part of any peace deal – a position that has been held by all governments for decades.
Australia’s policy remains unchanged that the Golan Heights are a matter for Israel and Syria to determine as part of any future comprehensive peace settlement.
Like many of you, I too felt hurt that the wording of the motion did not fully reflect these principles or long-standing policy positions of Australia.
It is important Australia is engaging with the world.
But we as a community also understand a fundamental truth with the Middle East.
And that is that the international community cannot bring about an end to the suffering on both sides. Nor can there be a long-lasting peace agreement that we so desperately want to see without two willing partners on the ground.
There have been countless motions moved in international forums, but they have not ended this conflict. They have not brought hostages home. They have not brought safety to the Palestinian civilians caught in this war.
That power only lies in the hands of Hamas and Israel.
Australian politicians do not have the power to end this war.
What we do have the power to do is ensure the communities affected by it here can live safely and without discrimination.
I am spending every day working towards that, while also holding onto the hope of seeing peace in the Middle East.
Josh Burns is the federal Labor Member for Macnamara.
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