Federal Parliament resoundingly condemns Hamas bloodletting
Bipartisan resolution passes resoundingly by 135 votes to four; Greens MPs vote against it
Federal Parliament has overwhelmingly passed a motion expressing its revulsion at the Hamas massacres which have claimed the lives of some 1400 Israelis so far – the worst Jewish death toll since the Holocaust.
The bipartisan resolution passed resoundingly by 135 votes to four in the House on Monday and was debated in the Senate, despite efforts by Greens leader Adam Bandt and his party to derail it.
Bandt’s amendment described “war crimes perpetrated by the state of Israel, including the bombing of Palestinian civilians”. It was supported by independent MPs Kylea Tink, Andrew Wilkie and Sophie Scamps joining the four lower-house Greens, Stephen Bates, Max Chandler-Mather, Elizabeth Watson-Brown and Bandt. But the anti-Israel amendment was defeated 107-7.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposed Monday’s motion, which stated, “The House unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas, which are the heinous acts of terrorists, and have encompassed the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages, and indiscriminate rocket fire.”
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told Parliament, “Today we mourn the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust.” The dead included “hundreds of young Israelis mercilessly hunted down at a music festival; Israelis murdered in their homes shot … Israelis butchered in their beds, entire families slaughtered in their cars, their kitchens, their living rooms … Jewish men, Jewish women, Jewish children.”
Describing the Hamas attack as “sheer barbarity”, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton stated, “No longer can the apologists of this death cult claim they have a just and noble cause. What happened nine days ago was the embodiment of evil. There must be no restraint shown to these who have shown no restraint themselves.”
In the Senate on Monday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated, “The Senate must condemn these acts of evil perpetrated by a hateful group bent on the destruction of the State of Israel and the eradication of Jews … This was an assault on Israel, on the Jewish people. But also an attack on our collective humanity.”
Communal organisations including the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council lauded the motion, and expressed their lament at the Greens for opposing it and the Teals and independents who backed Bandt’s amendment.
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